Sex education for the young

There’s some apprehension over the inclusion of sex education in the elementary school curricula. People who object to its inclusion believe that informing children about the facts of creation will lead to sexual promiscuity. But will it?

The United Nations has issued a statement regarding the necessity of providing young people “with the information to enable them to grow up healthy and enable them to make the right choices for themselves and their families.”

The statement reminds us that global leaders of 189 countries met in 2000 and signed the Millennium Declaration, declaring their commitment to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These goals cover a wide range of social and economic indicators, including decreasing poverty by half and achieving universal primary education.

The UN has focused its work around the MDGs and addresses the needs of individuals, particularly those living in poverty and deprivation. It says that “since 47 percent of the population in the Philippines are below 19 years of age, a critical element to helping young people out of poverty is providing them with the information to enable them to grow up healthy and enable them to make the right choices for themselves and their families.”

“The responsibility of providing this information to adolescents rests with the State, with teachers and with parents,” the UN states. “As stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) — the most widely signed international treaty — it is the obligation of States to ensure that all adolescent girls and boys are provided with accurate and appropriate information on how to protect their health and practice healthy behaviors.”

The UN points out that the Philippines, through the Department of Education, “is taking this responsibility seriously and integrating into primary grades V and VI topics such as learning about the body, personal hygiene, coping with peer pressure and making responsible decisions. At secondary level, the teaching moves on to helping students understand the consequences of unplanned pregnancy, risky behaviors and the impact these have on their future.”

According to the UN, young people growing up in the Philippines “are exposed to confusing and conflicting life skills information from the media and other popular sources. In this context, they have a greater need than ever for clear, unbiased information coming from a trusted source. While parents have an important role to play, young people also trust those in authority, such as teachers or doctors, who can help them accept and understand the process of growing up.

“Evidence suggests that given an absence of reliable information, young people do not always make the best choices.

“In the Philippines, HIV infection among 15 to 24 year olds increased five-fold from 2007 to 2009 (DOH Health Registry, 2009). A 2008 data show that 26 percent of this age group are already childbearing. Global evidence shows that giving clear, appropriate information to adolescents does not increase promiscuity but helps them make responsible decisions.

“The United Nations will continue to work with government, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to respect, fulfill, and protect the rights of girls and boys to comprehensive information regarding their health and their bodies.”

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On another front, tomorrow, June 20, will be a happy day for the family of Dean Amado D. Valdez, as he will receive the Father’s Day Award of the Father’s Day Foundation at ceremonies to be held at the Century Park Sheraton Hotel at ten in the morning. The award is another feather in the cap for the dean, on account of his having been recently awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Community & Economic Development, honoris causa, by the Akamai University of Hawaii, and another Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, from the Laguna State Polytechnic University.

Amado’s credentials are many. His government service is capped by his having served as Government Corporate Counsel in 2001, and as senior undersecretary at the Office of the President, concurrently as executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACOM).

He made a dent in these two capacities. As GCC in 2001, he initiated graft cases against top officials of the Social Security System who extended behest loans during the Estrada administration. Tasked by President Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the multi-million vehicle repair scam at the Department of Public Works and Highways, he caused the suspension of two senior undersecretaries and practically the entire equipment bureau of the department.

In charge of enforcing the VFA with the United States, he insisted that members of the US Armed Forces submit to Philippine jurisdiction, like quarantine and reporting to the Philippine government on military investigation and discipline on acts of their troops committed within the country. To our knowledge, this decision did not sit well with both US and Philippine government officials.

Amado finished law at the UE College of Law, and obtained a masters in business economics at the University of Asia & the Pacific. Prior to his stint in government, he served as dean of the UE College of Law, and reassumed the post in 2005 until the present. Under his incumbency, the college initiated and maintains a legal aid clinic office that provides legal advice and representations to indigents in the city of Manila.

In 1986, he was director of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance during the term of then President Corazon Aquino, where he also served as a member of the Cabinet Assistance System. He was cited for his “Barefoot Lawyers Program” which unclogged the dockets of the Department of Agrarian Reform.

His passion is legal aid work. As the national legal aid director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in 1999, he successfully implemented its nationwide legal aid program, and initiated projects like decongestion of jails, training of paralegals, a program for the protection of abused women and children, and seminars on the barangay justice system. It was during his incumbency that the IBP commenced the IBP Drug Watch, which resulted in the conviction of a police precinct commander and an entire Quezon City police precinct that apprehended two Hong Kong nationals selling drugs who were released eventually through bribery.

He writes a column in Peoples Tonight which was chosen as one of the finalists for Best Opinion Column in the 2004 Catholic Mass Media Awards. He hosts the program, “Magpayo nga Kayo” aired every Saturday at 11:30 to 12:30 noon at DZMM (Cable Channel 26), a teleradyo of the biggest broadcast network in the country.

Dean Valdez’s most ardent inspiration is his wife, Nelita Rodrigo Natividad, drama artist and mambabalagtas of Radyo Balintataw-DZRH, and former corporate secretary of the Ninoy Aquino Movement Social Economic Reconstruction thru Volunteer Efforts (NAM-SERVE). They have three children — Melquiades Marcus, a juris doctor from DLSU-FEU; Amadeus Aurelius, a licensed architect, and Jason Roland, a medical doctor.

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