By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-20 08:01:26 | Updated at 2025-01-20 11:11:49
3 hours ago
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr denounced on Monday a proposed law to make sex education mandatory in schools in the conservative, mainly Catholic nation, alleging it would teach four year-olds to pleasure themselves.
Marcos vowed to veto the bill in the event it hurdles Congress, blaming people with a “woke” mentality for what he said was an “abhorrent” and “ridiculous” idea.
Legislators backing the “Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy” bill said making it a mandatory subject in schools would help address a high rate of teen pregnancies, as well as sexual assault of minors.
“Over the weekend, I finally read in detail Senate Bill 1979. And I was shocked, and I was appalled by some of the – some of the elements of that,” Marcos told reporters.
“You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate. That every child has the right to try different sexualities. This is ridiculous,” Marcos said.
“If this bill is passed in that form, I guarantee all parents, teachers, and children: I will immediately veto it.”
