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In the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, a debate is raging over whether to teach teenagers about contraceptives. Comprehensive sex education is required in public schools but not all schools are following through. Dave Grunebaum has the story.
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: PHILIPPINES TEEN PREGNANCY
HEADLINE: Comprehensive Sex Education Remains Controversial in the Philippines
TEASER: Opposition to lessons in preventing pregnancy finds foothold in predominantly Roman Catholic country
PUBLISHED AT: 07/17/2023 AT 10:12a
BYLINE: Dave Grunebaum
DATELINE: Malabon, Philippines
VIDEOGRAPHER: Dave Grunebaum
SCRIPT EDITORS sv; caw
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA Original
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO ___
TRT: 2:36
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: —
---There is a separate webscript and photos for a slideshow))
((INTRO))
[[ In the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, a debate is raging over whether to teach teenagers about contraceptives. Comprehensive sex education is required in public schools but not all schools are following through. Dave Grunebaum has the story. ]]
((nat pop from classroom))
“Family planning: pills, condoms, IUDs, injectibles, implant.”
((NARRATION))
A workshop for a group of teens on a day off from school.
In some countries, classroom discussions about sex and contraceptives are common for teenagers but not in the Philippines.
((Jomarie Oliva, Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (female in Tagalog)))
“They don’t always teach kids sex education. You don’t always learn all the ways to protect yourself from unplanned pregnancies, how to use condoms and other
contraceptives.”
((NARRATION))
Advocates for comprehensive sex education say the lack of lessons as well as laws requiring parental consent for minors to access contraceptives are why government data shows one out of 10 births in the country is by a mother younger than 19.
((Jomarie Oliva, Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (female in Tagalog)))
“There are teens who don’t know that a woman can get pregnant the first time she has sex.”
((NARRATION ))
Jomarie Oliva is a community mobilizer for Likhaan, a non-governmental organization that focuses on reproductive health, access to contraceptives and sex education.
Seventeen-year-old Hanah Ilajas says she did not understand how birth control pills work until she took this workshop.
((Hanah Ilajas, Malabon City Resident (female in Tagalog) ))
“I’ve heard about pills before, but I only really learned about them now.”
((NARRATION))
Conservative voices in the country including the influential Catholic Church oppose the use of contraceptives as well as lessons about them.
((radio track, Father Jerome Secillano is with the Catholics Bishops' Conference of the Philippines))
((Rev. Jerome Secillano, Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, male in English, (male in English)))
“We start by telling them that sex should be done not outside the marriage but inside the marriage; and secondly, do not use contraceptives, do not use pills, do not use condoms; and thirdly, you need to preserve your body. You are still young and sexual intercourse is not for your biological age, and you have to do it when you are already married.”
((radio track: Erickson Bernardo of the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health has a different take.))
((Erickson Bernardo, Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (male in English)))
“I believe discussion of all forms of contraception, both modern, artificial and natural family planning is very important. You don’t actually encourage them to have sex, but basically you allow them to make responsible decisions.”
((NARRATION))
In 2012, a law was passed expanding sex education in public schools, but more than a decade later, its implementation across the country is spotty.
((Erickson Bernardo, Likhaan Center for Women’s Health (male in English)))
“There are some school administrators who are willing to adapt comprehensive sexuality education so long as it is not in their schools.”
((NARRATION))
Likhaan says while the pace is slow, gradually more schools are teaching students about all methods of birth control. Meantime, outreach workers such as Oliva try to fill the gap.
((Dave Grunebaum, for VOA News Malabon, Philippines))
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