Marcos said he stood by his previous statement that “sex education is extremely important”. However, he said he was “shocked” and “appalled by some of the elements” of Senate Bill No. 1979 when he finally read it in detail over the weekend.

Marcos Jr. backs Comprehensive Sexuality Education to address teenage pregnancies

“Because this is—all this woke that they are trying to bring into our system. You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate, that every child has the right to try different sexualities,” Marcos told reporters.

“This is ridiculous, it is abhorrent. It is a travesty of what sex education should be to the children,” he added.

He said he still believed that teaching children anatomy, the consequences of early pregnancy, the prevalence of HIV remained "extremely important." 

But he said, “Yung mga sinama nila na 'woke' na absurdities are abhorrent to me.” 

“And I am already guaranteeing, hindi pa napasa ito, pero if this bill is passed in that form, I guarantee all parents, teachers, and children, I will immediately veto it,” he added. 

WRAP: Bill to prevent teen pregnancies births questions on morality, masturbation

At least one congressman has already indicated that he will file a resolution seeking to "recommit" the House measure to the appropriate committees.

House Committee on Human Rights Chairperson and Manila City 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr. tagged the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention bill as "garbage."

"I believe that these two, the Senate Bill and the House Bill 8910… I believe these to be garbage legislation that should not even be passed in this august chamber," said Abante.

House Bill 8910 or the proposed Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act was approved on final reading by the lower chamber of Congress in September 2023, and later transmitted to the Senate.

"I believe that this bill that has been passed in 2023… should be returned and recommitted to the appropriate committees, if not a single committee. I was told that this bill was given to the Committee on Youth, when it should also be given to the Committee on Education," said Abante.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chair of one of the committees that prepared Senate Bill No. 1979, said that childhood masturbation was not part of the proposed legislation. 

"Mr. President, with all due respect, maliwanag na wala po sa bill kahit ang salita na 'masturbation.' Wala din po yung 'try different sexualities'. CSE contains the very same things you support: teaching kids anatomy, consequences of early pregnancy," she said in a video statement. 

"I am willing to accept amendments to refine the bill so we can steer it to passage," she added. 

Hontiveros earlier said critics of the bill were making false claims.

"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," Hontiveros said this week.

(I don't know where they got that from. Because there is no law or any policy in the Philippines that will seek to prevent parents from guiding their children)

Comprehensive Sexuality Education 'crucial' for young people: UP institute

The Senate bill would mandate the government to promote "age-appropriate" and compulsory "comprehensive sexuality education" in schools that is "medically accurate, culturally sensitive, rights based, and inclusive and non-discriminatory".

Sex education was incorporated into the public school curriculum for students aged 10-19 in 2012 with the passage of a reproductive health law, though private schools, many of them run by the Catholic Church, are not required to teach it.

Nowhere in the bill is there a mention of masturbation and four-year-olds, but opponents allege it is similar to technical guidance issued by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and World Health Organization for sexuality education that tackles masturbation.

"The two international documents are quite candid about its normalization," a group called Project Dalisay, a church-based coalition that opposes the bill, alleged in a statement.

The Philippine House of Representatives passed an adolescent pregnancy prevention bill in 2023, but it did not become law because the Senate did not pass a counterpart bill.

The Senate has yet to schedule the current bill for a floor debate, according to Hontiveros' aides. This makes it unlikely it will be passed before the legislature adjourns early next month ahead of the May 12 midterm elections.

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— With reports from Jamaine Punzalan, Pia Gutierrez, Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse