By the Weekly Sillimanian
When contention on Senate Bill (SB) 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act’s passage arose from rampant disinformation, our leaders should have been at the forefront in dismantling such lies. Instead, they were the perpetrators.
SB 1979 was first introduced in the senate on March 7, 2023, which aimed to establish a national policy preventing adolescent pregnancy and institutionalizing social protection for adolescent parents. While it was initially lauded by the public, the spread of disinformation on the bill’s provisions gradually changed the reaction towards it, resulting in the withdrawal of support from senators.
The bill’s opposition was led by Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and her group, the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution. They launched a petition filled with false claims, such as that the bill encouraged the sexualization of children, promoted oral and anal sex, and even endorsed masturbation. These accusations misrepresented the bill’s intent, causing confusion and delaying vital progress.
The spread of these unthinkable lies not only threatened the progress that could have been made with the bill’s earlier passage but the integrity of public discourse itself. What’s worse is that these threats become all the more challenging when our leaders are the main perpetrators of such fallacies.
While the efforts of Senator Risa Hontiveros, principal author of SB 1979, to debunk the lies made about the bill are commendable, it should have never been necessary in the first place. But it was, simply because the stride towards normalizing sex education threatened the conservative beliefs of our leaders.
To confront any attempts of disinformation is a government’s responsibility—a long form of justice Filipinos have continuously demanded. But the actions placed towards SB 1979 is a stellar testament to the Philippines’ struggle in achieving a well-informed society when our leaders are the very root of such problems.
The fabrication of this bill is not the only evidence of rampant disinformation led by our leaders. It is neither the only instance where the government refuted systemic and progressive changes because of lies that they held closer to their thinking than facts.
The Weekly Sillimanian urges our government to move past these fallacies and act upon the urgency of SB 1979’s passage and the improvement of a comprehensive sex education in our academe.
We also hope that our leaders resist their ways of spreading lies for the benefit of their own beliefs. They must also stray from a position to easily believe such false claims and, more importantly, make way for its impact in our government.
