Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

Escudero, Villanueva oppose anti teen pregnancy bill

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Senate President Francis Escudero and Senator Joel Villanueva are against Senate Bill 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, citing proposed amendments to the measure. Villanueva said other senators will also go against the measure and withdraw their co-authorship.The Senate chief, meanwhile, explained he is against the bill in its current form. &quot;As it was originally reported, no. At least not in its entirety. In fact, I have relayed to the author several proposed amendments to it.  It&#x27;s still undergoing the “rigors of legislation” and is currently in the period of interpellation… I will await the final version that will be put to a vote where, hopefully, most of my proposed amendments will be carried,&quot; Escudero said in a text message to reporters.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/09/05/23/house-oks-adolescent-pregnancy-prevention-act">House OKs &#x27;Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act&#x27; on 3rd, final reading</a></div>The Senate chief however clarified he was not convinced by former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to go against the bill. Sereno is among the more vocal critics of the bill. &quot;She did not. She just expressed concerns over it. When I spoke to her she said that their group is against the bill per se,&quot; Escudero said. The bill is currently pending Second Reading before the plenary session of the Senate. It is covered by Committee Report No. 41 which states that Senators Risa Hontiveros, Imee Marcos, Bong Revilla, and Christopher Lawrence Go are co-authors, along with then Senator and now Education Secretary Sonny Angara. Senate records show that Senators Cynthia Villar and Raffy Tulfo send separate letters conveying their intention to be made co-author of the bill.The report was signed by Senators Go, Hontiveros, Angara, Marcos, Villar, Revilla, Pia Cayetano, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe, Francis Tolentino, Jinggoy Estrada, Robin Padilla, Lito Lapid, and Loren Legarda. Senator Bato dela Rosa signed with reservation while Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel signed and said he may interpellate. &quot;Ako, hindi ko itatago &#x27;yung aking saloobin dito. And I will continue to say it, I am rejecting this bill,&quot; Villanueva said for his part on Thursday morning. In the Kapihan sa Senado, Villanueva revealed that he heard from some of his colleagues, whom he refused to name, that they intend to withdraw support from the bill. &quot;Well, ako, ang narinig ko, maraming mag-wiwithdraw ng co-authorship nila. And let me talk about this, I have never spoken with Senator Angara about this. You know how close I am to Senator Angara. I don&#x27;t think he is pushing for this measure. It just so happened that he is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance. Ganun din naman po eh, pagka-chairperson ka at kasama yung committee mo doon sa merong appropriation ano po yan eh component, then you become an author,&quot; he said, adding that Angara&#x27;s statements are against teaching anything against values and culture.&quot;Hindi pa nga ho nafu-fully implement itong GMRC values education natin. Sexual education &#x27;yung gusto natin pag-focusan. I&#x27;m sorry ho talaga. I just don&#x27;t feel na it is important. It should take a backseat. Ngayon kung majority ng ating mga kasamahan dito sa Senado mag-a-agree na importante po ito, then that&#x27;s the time na tatayo po ako sa plenaryo. But for the meantime, na majority feels na hindi rin ito importante at hindi ito dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ng ating Senado at ng pamahalaan then it&#x27;s a waste of time,&quot; he added.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/13/teen-pregnancies-top-pre-pandemic-levels-popcom-1713">Teen pregnancies top pre-pandemic levels: Popcom</a></div>The senator said other lawmakers were surprised with the measure as well, but he is mum about the names of those who would withdraw their authorship.&quot;Sila na lang. Sila na lang tanungin natin. Kasi ako, I really think this is crucial. &#x27;Yung tignan nyo yung social media right now, lahat ng concerns being raised by different groups, hindi lang &#x27;yung grupo ni former Chief Justice Sereno. They&#x27;re all valid valid concerns. And I think we should be more careful in crafting measures that would affect the sanctity of family. Yung karapatan ng mga magulang sa kanilang anak na backed up by our Constitution,&quot; he said. Just like Sereno, who has spoken out against the measure, Villanueva opposes the adoption of international standards which he believes may lead to the scenarios Sereno has warned of —  including the teaching of masturbation to minors.<div>&#x27;MEASURE MAY CURTAIL PARENTAL AUTHORITY&#x27;</div>He is questioning if the teaching of adolescent sexuality must be integrated in all levels.&quot;Puntahan natin yung WHO. Zero to four year olds are to be taught early childhood masturbation. Four to six years old are to be taught skills to talk about sexual matters. What feels good? Six to nine years old are to be taught about acceptable sex, ejaculation, enjoyment, and pleasure when touching one&#x27;s own body.... Sinong mga magulang ang hindi mag-aalala dito? Puntahan naman natin yung UNESCO... Sa UNESCO, sa 12 to 14 years old, they have the right to make their own decisions about sexuality. Walang pakialam kahit sino. Walang say ang mga guro. Walang say ang school administration dito sa CSE delivery,&quot; Villanueva argued.He said he is ready to be the &quot;last one standing here in the Senate&quot; just to oppose the bill, because he also have a child and he doesn&#x27;t want the measure to curtail parental authority.&quot;Kahit sasabihin nila na otherwise. My body, my right. Eh ako, hindi ako naniniwala kasing ako may-ari ng buhay ko eh. Nilikha ho ako ng Diyos ko. I will abide by what I believe in. And more than anything, I will abide by what my constitution is saying about the right of parents to their children,&quot; Villanueva added. &quot;Napakalinaw ng ating Konstitusyon. Article 14, Section 20, Section 2, Article 14, Section 2 of our Constitution. Napakahalaga nung binabanggit po diyan na karapatan ng ating mga magulang to rear their children. Klaro po yun sa ating Constitution... I just can&#x27;t believe this. We&#x27;re even entertaining this idea. May constitution tayo, bakit international guidelines? Ba&#x27;t tayo susunod sa kanila?&quot; he said.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/8/ideal-age-to-get-pregnant-here-s-what-an-expert-says-2052">Is there really an ideal age to get pregnant? An expert tells us</a></div>&quot;Ina-activate din po dito ang lahat dito sa bill na ito pag binasa nyo po. Hindi lang DepEd, kasama po yung mga barangay health workers, SK, LGU, CSOs, NGOs, pati mga line agencies, DILG, DSWD, MTRCB. E pambihira, ano ba yan? Meron ba tayong national emergency sa sexuality education? Ito yung priority. E kala ko ba mababa yung rank natin sa PISA? Kala ko ba kailangan natin pagtuunan yung pagtuturo ng math and sciences sa ating mga kabataan. E ngayon, ito, dito tayo magpo-focus,&quot; he added. Villanueva finds the bill&#x27;s name misleading, claiming it piggybacks many objectionable provisions, and claimed that is a prelude to legalizing abortion. But he said he is ready to back the bill if the &quot;objectionable provisions&quot; are removed. He also conceded that something has to be done about the prevalence of teen pregnancies but not this way and he wants a different approach.<div>&#x27;COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABCRICATION&#x27;</div>Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros meanwhile fired back at critics of Senate Bill 1979 or the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill after they claimed on social media that the proposed measure, among others, will teach children as young as 4 years old about childhood masturbation, introduce 6-year-olds to the concept of bodily pleasures through the five senses, and assert  that by age 9, children have their own sexual rights.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/1/15/hontiveros-sereno-clash-on-anti-teen-pregnancy-bill-2011">Hontiveros, Sereno clash on anti-teen pregnancy bill</a></div> &quot;Alin nga ba yung mga mali-mali? Una, walang anumang probisyon tungkol sa pagtuturo o paghikayat ng masturbation sa mga batang edad 0 to 4 years old o yung magtuturo daw diumano ng “bodily pleasure” sa mga batang 6-9 years old o na ituturo din daw sa bata na may “sexual rights” sila. Absolutely none of those concepts exist in our bill. Those lines in their supposed rebuttal are complete and total fabrication,&quot; Hontiveros said.She also cleared that the bill wasn&#x27;t based on &quot;Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe&quot;  but on the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law. She enumerated the arguments that critics are spreading, which she called fake news.&quot;Ikatlo, isa pang fake news: na kung ang bata ay sexually active, &#x27;hindi na daw pwedeng sabihan ang mga magulang.&#x27; Kung saan nila nahugot yan, hindi ko alam. Dahil walang batas o anumang polisiya sa Pilipinas ang magtatangkang magbawal sa mga magulang na gumabay sa ating mga anak. In short, I can confidently say: these outrageous claims from Project Dalisay were pulled out of thin air,&quot; Hontiveros stressed.&quot;This bill isn&#x27;t just necessary: it is urgent. We cannot ignore this issue anymore,&quot; said Hontiveros. &quot;May national emergency na nga, ang inatupag pa nila ay pananakot sa mga Pilipino. Enough is enough. Let us demand real education for our kids.&quot;Undersecretary Angelo Tapales, Executive Director of the Council for the Welfare of Children, as well as Dr. Jeepy Perez, former executive director of the Population Commission, expressed support to the bill.

Senate President Francis Escudero and Senator Joel Villanueva are against Senate Bill 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, citing proposed amendments to the measure.

Senate President Francis Escudero and Senator Joel Villanueva are against Senate Bill 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, citing proposed amendments to the measure.