CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto on Sunday hinted that the sex education modules imported and copyrighted by the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2006 were made with "hidden agenda" on them.
The modules, he said, were funded through Australian aid and by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in support of DepEd Memorandum 261 approved on September 08, 2005.
The memorandum is about the operationalization of the UNFPA-assisted project "Institutionalizing Adolescent Reproductive Health through Life Skills-based Education."
The project is especially designed to address the various reproductive health concerns of in-school and out of school youth, aiming to enhance the overall (physical, emotional, spiritual and mental) wellness of Filipino adolescents and to contribute to better learning outcomes, reduced drop out rate, increased completion rate and improved quality of learning.
However, the pro-life prelate said these are subjects for chosen pilot schools and Pampanga is not one.
"Olongapo pa lang sa Central Luzon ang pilot. In my personal opinion, these are really funded by rich and powerful nations," he said, hinting they were not fit for Filipinos.
He added that the guide lessons of DepEd's sex education program are geared towards the promotion of the development goals of the United Nations, which include population control measures and the contraceptive culture.
"Maganda ang balangkas ng mga modules pero hindi yata dapat ituro kung kanino lalo na sa mga elementary students because children don't have the same psychological consciousness and phase of development. In some modules here, parts of human reproductive organs are sketched. Ang mga iba na makakakita ay mahihiya, ang iba masa-shock, ang iba naman ay aware na. So iba-iba ang magiging pananaw nila," he continued.
Nevertheless, the "Adolescent Reproductive Health" and "Mga Huwarang Aralin at Pamamaraan sa Paglinang ng mga Kaalaman sa Kalusugan" module titles will remain as trial versions of DepEd and are up for consultation.
"Ang problema wala pang consultation. Dapat it should be with the Church and the parents as well. The Church is protecting the values and innocence of children. In my personal opinion, people nowadays are very vigilant. Meron din namang mga parents who are very sensitive of their children's Christian and moral values. Parents shouldn't discuss every detail to their children dahil pwede silang magkaroon ng fantasy about sex," said Aniceto.
He clarified that the Church is really not against sex education provided it is supervised by the right person in the right time, right place and right method.
"Ang iba kasi akala nila population is the cause of poverty. No. There is poverty not because of heavy population but graft and corruption, unjust economic and social policies, mismanagement of resources and lack of accountability," he stated.
In Thailand, he added, cases of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) even increased after the approval of using condoms. Some European countries have zero population growth and they reward a family for every birth. Sex education is also a failure in Russia, Germany and England because of lack of parents' supervision, he said.
"Why should they impose on us their political errors and economic mistakes? The UN agenda about sex education involves a multi-million dollar contraceptive business in which western pharmaceutical companies will export to our country," he firmly said.
He also cleared that they are not so much for the module but "who's pushing it."
"Subjects on sex education for the Church simply mean it is the duty and rights of parents to educate their children in sexuality and chastity," he said. (Marlon P. Beltran/With reports from Jovi T. De Leon)