Aquino, incoming DepEd chief yet to discuss sex ed

President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Tuesday said he has yet to speak with incoming Education Secretary Armin Luistro regarding sex education in schools. While he did not know whether his meeting with Luistro would lead to an abolition or continuation of the controversial program, Aquino said the only thing certain was that he will not adopt “conservative policies" under his administration. “Ang bottom line po, hindi ko maa-adopt ang policy ng pinaka-conservative elements na noong kampanya ang minumungkahi sa atin ay huwag pag-usapan," Aquino said during the announcement of the members of his Cabinet Tuesday. (The bottom line is, I will not adopt the policy of the most conservative elements who, during the campaign, suggested that I shouldn’t talk about such things.) He said refusing to take up the matter would only lead to “zero education" of Filipinos — a scenario that he said has no place in his administration, which is set to start on Wednesday, June 30. “Zero education leads to ignorance and ignorance might lead to wrong decision and I cannot agree to that," Aquino said. Before the campaign period for the May 10 elections, Aquino hinted that he would support the reproductive health measure. He, however, backtracked when faced by strong opposition from the Catholic Church, which is not in favor of the measure. Aquino, a Catholic, had repeatedly said during the campaign period that he will not impose a national policy on reproductive health, but rather support responsible parenthood. Luistro, for his part, said he will review first the highly debated sex education program before coming up with a decision. “I want to focus on programs that need to be continued because I’m sure there are also programs there that are actually good, but there are also programs that has to be reviewed such as the sex ed issue," he said. The Department of Education (DepEd) has implemented the pilot test for sex education in almost 200 schools this school year. At the end of the school year, it will evaluate its effectiveness and decide whether or not to expand the program’s coverage. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV