Teachers and school officials grab free reading materials regarding sex health education during the Health Information Dissemination Program at the Araullo Highschool held on October 01, 2019. The program aims to educate students on various sex health topics and to discourage pre-marital sex to avoid teenage pregnancy. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday said its order on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) was undergoing review for being "confusing."

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During the hearing of Senate Committee on Basic Education, its chairperson Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian flagged the inconsistency of Department Order 31 that supposedly mandated CSE to all, even when the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health law only required it for adolescents or those aged 10 to 19.

"It was expanded all the way to kindergarten which is different from the intention of the framers of the RH law," Gatchalian said.

DepEd Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Filemon Ray Javier confirmed that the order on CSE was under review.

"In fact, the current leadership of the Department of Education acknowledges the fact that there may be some instances of confusion. That is why we have a directive currently to review Department Order 31 and revise if necessary and ensure that the implementation will be properly done," he said.

"This is a very culturally sensitive topic... If you are saying that there is confusion then how do we expect our teachers to teach CSE with clarity on the ground?" Gatchalian replied.

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The DepEd official said the agency agreed that CSE should only be taught to those aged 10 and above. 

"DepEd is aligned also with that thinking that the sex education, sexuality education must begin from 10 to 19 years old because that is what RH law provided," Javier said.

He said that while the language of the department order was more general, the curriculum was more precise.

"When you look at the curriculum itself, there are details of what should be taught per grade level. And if we will look at the details of the curriculum, the sexual education proper will begin at age 10 and will end at age 19. So the teachers will be guided. Even though, admittedly the wording of DO 31 at the current state is confusing, there are details provided for by the curriculum," Javier said.

"For a sensitive topic like comprehensive sexuality education, there's no room for confusion," Gatchalian commented.

Javier clarified that learners younger than 10 only get foundational knowledge and not sexuality education.

"The current curriculum has no problem. The sexuality education is not being taught to children that are younger than 10 years old," he said.

But Gatchalian said: "We understand that, of course, it's up to the teacher now, correct? To be culturally sensitive. So training is very important."

"And clarity from policy is very important. Because if you are confused from the top, rest assured that the teacher will also be confused," the senator.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked the agency to present the curricula for learners aged 5 to 9.

"For example, in kindergarten, they have to identify their body parts, the things that they see, and then they practice ways of taking care and protecting their body," DepEd Assistant Secretary for Curriculum and Teaching Janir Datukan said.

OD31 SUSPENSION?

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said he was open to suspending DO31 pending the review.

"We can do a…temporary suspension while we're reviewing it. Permanent, obviously, we cannot because that's a mandate of the law,” Angara said in an interview at the Senate.

“But certainly to correct certain flaws that have been pointed out by the legislators, dun sa policies, para to ensure na age appropriate nga siya, I think maybe we can do that. And konting corrections, di  tweaking,” he said.

Angara acknowledged the fears of critics of CSE.

"I think a lot of the fears are from what they think might happen, not from what's actually happening. So, tingin ko, pero valid naman yung concerns na as to whether the interventions are age-appropriate. That's very valid, I think,” the official said.

“So yung mention of kinder to grade 3, that might be too young to talk about comprehensive sexuality. So maybe we find more neutral terms and ensure more age-appropriate concepts."

Issues on DepEd's implementation of CSE came to light in relation to misinformation about the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Bill, which contained the term. 

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Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and her group took issue with the use of the phrase "comprehensive sexuality education," claiming that it would mean teaching students "solo and mutual masturbation, gender fluidity, and sexuality rights."

Hontiveros, the main proponent of the bill, denied the allegations.

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