DepEd should talk to parents, not the bishops - CBCP official

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) should meet with the parents of the school children to thoroughly discuss the issue of sex education and not the bishops, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday.

CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) chairman Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto told the Church-run Radio Veritas that since the Constitution mandates that the parents have the primordial responsibility in teaching their children, then Education officials should first consult them and not the Church officials.

“Our stand here is very, very clear. The Constitution mandates that it is not the right and not the responsibility of the DepEd to teach about sex education, it is the family or the parents. If the parents cannot fulfill their obligation, they cannot delegate it…The Constitution is limiting itself, regarding the teaching of sex education, to the family,” said Archbishop Aniceto.

It has been reported that the DepEd is inviting the CBCP to observe the schools that have been chosen as pilot areas for sex education.

But the Pampanga prelate said that the DepEd should have extended its invitation to the parents-teachers associations and not to them. “The DepEd should assist the parents and not get the natural, original and primary right of the parent, to teach the children with this confidential and private matter.”

It is the job of the mother and father to inculcate the morals and cultural values of Filipinos and the traits of being Christians to their children. He added that, “We would not impose an ideology” to the parents.

He said that the modules that would be used in the schools, on the subject of sex education, should be presented to the parents’ organization. The parents, on the other hand, should thoroughly check if the program would promote the moral education and civic efficiency of today’s youth.

He also said that the CBCP should also be furnished a copy of all the modules that would be used in the schools.

The CBCP-ECFL official said that the parents and the Church leaders should work hand-in-hand. The religious leaders would direct them and hope to renew their parental obligation and parental responsibility to their children. From their relatives, the children should also adopt the spiritual values.

Aniceto believed that international organizations might be involved in the promotion of sex education in the country and these actions violate the “sovereignty of the Philippines.”

Aniceto said that they would be praying for president-elect Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and that they hope that the next leader would respect the feelings of the Church and the families.

Meanwhile, the CBCP yesterday denied news reports that they agreed to meet with DepEd officials today (June 17) at the agency’s main office along Meralco Avenue in Pasig City.

It was also mentioned that the CBCP delegation Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias would be leading.

But CBCP secretary general Monsignor Juanito Figura said he talked with Bishop Tobias who denied participation in the dialogue. “Bishop Tobias denied any knowledge of the said meeting to be held at the Dep-Ed main office.”

Sex education in English

A senior lawmaker yesterday called on the Department of Education to teach the sex education subject in English once it pushes through with its plans to hold a pilot testing of the subject in selected public schools.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas, who heads the 12-man House contingent in the Commission on Appointments, said the DepEd has the option to teach the new program in English, Filipino or in the regional/native language.

“Of course we would prefer that it be taught entirely in English, as a language is best learned and mastered through constant exposure and use in school and elsewhere,” the administration congressman said.

“This way, the DepEd also gets to use the new program to advance the English skills of our children at an early age,” said Gullas, an educator and principal author of a bill seeking to reinforce the use of English in schools. His family owns a school in Cebu City.

Gullas’s bill, the proposed Act Strengthening and Enhancing the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction, was actually passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading in the 13th Congress. However, the Senate failed to act on the bill in that Congress.

In the 14th Congress, the House failed to pass the bill, although an overwhelming majority of its members, or 202 of them to be exact, co-authored the measure.           – Delon Porcalla