Only parents, and not schools, should be educating children about sexuality and reproductive health, according to a congressman who opposes the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. If passed, the bill will require sex education starting in Grade Five. The bill's proponents argue that sex ed would help prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In the first day of plenary debate about the bill on Tuesday, Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing said the RH bill and its mandatory sex education will just open children's eyes to sex. He was the first to interpellate RH bill co-author and House Minority Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman. "Bakit binubuksan natin ang mata ng mga musmos pa, na ang alam lang ay magpiko, magtumbang-preso, magbahay-bahayan. Bakit hindi natin iwan sa mga magulang ito? (Why are we opening young children's eyes to sex, when all they know is playing games and pretend? Why don't we leave sex education to the parents?)" Bagatsing said.
Section 16 of the consolidated RH bill now being taken up in the House plenary states that age-appropriate RH and sexuality education "shall be taught by adequately trained teachers in formal and non-formal educational system starting from Grade Five up to Fourth Year High School using life-skills and other approaches."
Lagman said the bill will not override the "parental default" when it comes to teaching children about sex. However, he pointed out that age-appropriate sex education must also be integrated in schools' curriculums because the youth often get information about sex not from their parents but from "polluted sources" and from peer groups who may not have correct information about sex. In his speech, Lagman pointed out that many Filipino youth have misconceptions and wrong information about sex, like believing that Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is curable or that a girl cannot get pregnant the first time she has sex. He added that the bill will provide parents with "adequate and relevant scientific materials" that will help them teach reproductive health education to their children. The RH bill states that age-appropriate sex education will be integrated in relevant subjects and will include the following topics:
Values formation; Knowledge and skills in self protection against discrimination, sexual violence and abuse, and teen pregnancy; Physical, social and emotional changes in adolescents; Children's and women's rights; Fertility awareness; STI, HIV and AIDS; Population and development; Responsible relationship; Family planning methods; Proscription and hazards of abortion; Gender and development; and Responsible parenthood. The bill was also amended to include an option for parents to not allow their minor children to attend classes pertaining to reproductive health and sexuality education. Not new The issue of sex education integrated in school curriculums is not new. In 2008, under the term of former Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, DepEd pilot-tested modules of the "Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH)" program in over 150 elementary and high schools in the country. In an interview with GMA News Online in June 2010, DepEd's ARH project director Celia Eugenio said there was no opposition to the ARH program until some started using the term "sex education" to describe it. In June 2010, then Education Secretary Mona Valisno, who supported the inclusion of adolescent reproductive health in school curriculums, said in an interview with Arnold Clavio that the program will teach children "life skills" and "wellness." She also denied claims of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that reproductive health education will teach children how to use condoms and contraceptives. When current DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro assumed office in July 2010, the sex education issue took a backseat as he said it will not be his priority. — RSJ, GMA News 
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