MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed on Wednesday a revised sex education bill to address concerns raised by her fellow senators and some conservative religious groups.

Hontiveros, the principal author of Senate Bill (SB) 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act, moved to introduce a substitute bill after seven of her colleagues withdrew their support for the controversial measure.

The seven senators who withdrew their signatures were Senators Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Christopher Go, Loren Legarda, Ramon Revilla Jr., and Cynthia Villar.

In their letter, Senators Ejercito, Binay, Go, and Villar stated that “while we believe that the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy is an issue that must be urgently addressed, it is our position that further dialogues with stakeholders is essential in order to accurately dispel misconceptions and remove objectionable portions from the bill.”

Under the substitute measure, Hontiveros removed the phrase “guided by international standards,” which would allegedly teach lewd and inappropriate lessons on sexuality to Filipino children, as claimed by Project Dalisay, a conservative advocacy group led by former Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno.

The apprehension surrounding the bill stemmed from a video produced by a church-based group, the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution (NCFC), claiming that the bill’s concept of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is based on the sexuality standards in Europe.

“I understand their possible considerations and I wish to take this opportunity to inform this body that I have given much thought to the opposition raised against the bill,” Hontiveros said during Wednesday’s plenary session.

The amended bill includes teaching comprehensive sexuality education only to adolescent students aged 10 years old and above.

Hontiveros stressed that the debates over the bill were “muddled by so much misinformation,” adding that “while my personal convictions maintain that (the bill) is a reasoned and appropriate response to this national crisis that is teenage pregnancy, I deem it better for us to be united in our goal to bring down teenage pregnancy in the Philippines.”

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