Sex Education in the Philippines

Sex.

Basically, it is one of the few words that catch our attention. Whenever we see the word “sex” in magazines, newspapers and other print materials, we tend to stop at some point and become interested to read the article where it is written. It’s not because we simply feel the urge to read about sex but perhaps the “questioning self” wants to clarify and discover the truth about this matter.

In liberal democracies, sex is viewed as a normal activity for both adults and teenagers. Whether they are married or not, in a serious relationship or just in a fling, they engage to this kind of human activity.
In fact, most of their High School youngsters have this “get laid plans” before entering college. For them, sex is not a big deal. So, their state colleges and universities came up with a decision to integrate sex education into their classrooms as a regular part of instructions.

In the Philippines, it’s very different. Whenever we say the word “sex”, we are labeled as “rude”. No wonder why if we heard of “sex” we directly associate it to “vulgarity”. We cannot blame ourselves because we are living in a society with a stronghold of moral standards and conservatism. Some of us are still walking around the circular path of Father Damaso’s preachings in Noli, dictating us not to do this and that, which made us all hypocrites at the end of the day.

For sure, you haven’t heard your parents explain to you what sex is. We only encounter this word when we meet our friends, classmates, neighbors and the internet. We’ve got bits of information from our peers of the same age, brought about by curiosity and eagerness to know. We’ve got nothing from our moms and dads. It feels like everyone in our family is keeping his or her mouth shut when it comes to sex. Maybe, it’s not because they don’t want us to know what it is all about, but because they don’t know how to convey their thoughts. They find it awkward to share what they knew since they themselves have no backgrounds on sex education. Frankly speaking, majority of the Filipino families doesn’t have proper socio-cultural background in dealing with this particular matter. They find malice in educating us about sex. That’s why you can still hear children up to now, calling their organs “bird” and “flower”.

If the family, as the basic social unit and the ideal source of first learnings, is not capable of providing sex education, then it would be better if the government takes the responsibility in order to address these needed knowledge and values. It would be difficult for the children to understand things that are hidden and not well explained. Just like how my friend, way back in his childhood days, asked his dad why his mom got pregnant. The only answer he got was that “kapag masayang-masaya ang isang babae, mabubuntis sya.” Now tell me, is my friend’s dad a good sex educator? Does this statement would help him know what the truth about sex is?

We cannot deny that we are in the state of adolescence, whereas we have these raging hormones that are easily stimulated by uncensorable knowledge from non-school, techno-social environment. Such stimulation could possibly bring us all to the world of undesirable consequences. The Young Adult Fertility Survey conducted by University of the Philippines Population Institute said that there’s a significant percentage of early to late adolescents who are already into premarital sex. This result reflects our society today. Talk about our friends in High School who have their babies before or after graduation. Talk about Nene in “Katorse” who feared about her nanay’s reaction rather than the burndens she’ll carry after having unsafe sex. Problems regarding ignorance in sex are indeed rampant.

With SexEd, the intention is not to encourage young ones to engage into sex but to propagate learnings instead. As long as highly influential institutions, like the Church, are there, willing to guide and give assistance, we will not forget how to draw the line between what is moral and not.

If our government will continue to adhere to all the medieval age thinking, I doubt if we could help this country from preventing Rapid Population Growth. As what Conrado de Quiros said “It’s the Education, not the Sex”, true indeed that we’re for education and not of sex. However massive screening and studies must be allotted regarding this matter if ever our government would implement sex education as part of our private and public schools’ curricula. We can never say “never”, when in fact we’re not blind of the rampant controversies around us and when our eyes are all open, widely open to see those problems. Let us not be miopic in these issues. Let us think of the future and most importantly, THINK OF TODAY.

Noynoy, We will wait and hope

ONE of the most exciting parts of President Noynoy Aquino’s inauguration was seeing GMA leaving the Malacañang Palace. It is not because the Filipino people will miss the issues of her luxurious dinners abroad but because it symbolizes hope-filled years for a better Philippines.

P-Noy did not claim that he is like Superman or Einstein. He acknowledged himself as a simple human being who is willing to serve the Filipinos. Without arrogance, he said, “Kayo ang boss ko.” This signifies his humility as a man and a public servant. With this humility, we can’t expect him to act like a superhero who would risk his life for somebody nor to solve mysteries like those scientists. But we could not also allow him to just sit, talk, sign papers, and follow Liberal Party’s decisions just because he said he is a simple man.

We, the Filipino people, want something from him — something that could improve the ill-situation we have; something that would change the distorted structures of the government; something that is new.

In his speech, he stressed that he can forgive all who offended him but those who violated the law will face the consequence. He bannered again his mother’s statement as he said, “There can be no reconciliation without justice.” This statement is firm and powerful and this alone will make us wait and hope.

We will wait for P-Noy’s actions against corruption derived from the previous administration.

We will hope that justice would truly prevail; that there’ll be no biases; that no one will preserve selfish desires and interests.

We will wait and hope for an answer to the mysteries unsolved and problems not coped in the past nine years. Yes, P-Noy is just a man.He is not a hero like Superman or a scientist like Einstein but we hope he will be there to defeat the anomalies and solve issues.

We hope he will allow justice to prevail. We hope he will treat us as his boss for the next six years because this is what encompasses servant leadership.

photo source: PPV Studio

Ateneans unite in the 27th Buklod Atenista Congress

The student councils from the five Ateneo schools in the country gathered for this year’s 27th Buklod Atenista at Ateneo de Manila University last May 26-29 with the theme “Engaging Ateneans for a Better Philippines”. Together with the event were the representatives of of their official student publications and faith organizations.

The yearly gathering of young leaders called Buklod Atenista was established way back 1982 which has the very purpose of providing avenue for Ateneans to share common concerns, plans and visions.

This year’s youth agenda is focused on the mechanism in responding the needs and concerns of the Filipino youth after the local and national elections, which endeavors to address the problems in economy, education, and governance.

In the first day of the event, the Ateneo leaders reviewed and ratified their agenda which was presided by the Buklod Atenista Secretary General and a delegate from AdMU, Gio Alejo.

An open caucus was given for the plenary to read through the documents and discuss any concerns that might emerge during the congress. Each school raised their quiries and motions regarding the Ateneo Youth Agenda (AYA) that made helped the body to come up into a decision.

Various discussions were conducted like “The Ateneo at 150: Ignatian Leadership and Heroic Leadership” by AdMU President Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, S. J. (who talked about the aim of Ateneo community to form professionals for others) and “The Current Philippine Social and Political Situation” given by economist and broadcaster Prof. Solita Munsod.

While Mr. Bam Enriquez, the president of Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation shared how the whole four days will be filled not only with work activities but also with fun and leisure that are meant  to prepare the schools for the coming year.

On the other hand, the delegates were given the chance to visit the historical places in Metro Manila such as Intramuros and Binondo. Also, they got a chance to be entertained by different AdMU talents like the AdMU’s Glee Club and young actor Robi Domingo.

One of the highlights of the program was the Student Publications and Faith Organizations decision to author resolutions that will made them permanently included under the Buklod Atenista Constitution, in which the congress would probably deal with in the coming evaluation to be held at Ateneo de Davao University.

After all of those stressful yet fun and learning experiences, the 27th Buklod Atenista ended successfully with its graduation ceremony.

Philippine Election Analyses

The Odds

On the days leading to the historic May 10 Automated National and Local Elections, the Philippines was engaged in heated debate whether or not to hold the elections, as several anomalies sprouted to cast doubt on the accuracy and reliability of the machines.

The issue on printing ballots was one of the problems faced by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) during the preparation period. The Head of Poll Body’s printing committee for National Printing Office, Esmeralda Amora-Ladra, reported that they were unlikely to produce the required 50 million ballots since the NPO machines were not operating at maximum capacity. She further stressed that there was a need for them to avail of another set of machines in order to do the work faster. The NPO also forwarded a suggestion to the COMELEC to prepare measures in the case of possible manual elections.

Another glitch faced by the commission is the Ballot Secrecy Folder Scam. A certain whistleblower in the person of Atty. Melchor Magdamo, a former legal attorney of COMELEC under Commissioner Jose Melo last 2008, surfaced accusing Melo, Tolentino and other COMELEC officials of allegedly committing corruption. He said that these officials disobeyed an order of the COMELEC en banc since they proceeded on the bidding for expensive folders 2 years ago despite of an existing order to postpone such plan.

Add to the list of problems the malfunctions of the multibillion PCOS machines on tests conducted by the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) a few days before Election Day. Some of the machines could not read the ballots and could not count the votes properly while others were simply damaged.

The potential disasters uncovered candidates and voters alike to an extent that various political aspirants and groups appealed to COMELEC to postpone the elections, lest failure of elections happen.

Quick Response

As rumors of the postponement of elections circulated, Smartmatic took immediate actions to address the irregularities of the PCOS machines. They replaced the memory cards of the machines for every precinct as Election Day loomed as well as appearing on national TV to ensure the public that the elections would precede smoothly. Fortunately for Smartmatic and the voting public, majority of the machines functioned well on May 10. A successful election already seemed assured as the day closed on a historic national event of our time.

The Scent of Success

Despite the odds, the May election was a success. This success is mostly due to the efforts of teachers acting as the BEIs who made sure that the machines ran smoothly and without error, and the patience of voters cramped in dilapidated classrooms waiting as long as four or more hours in inopportune weather to exercise their right, to ensure that those they consider capable to assume leadership of the land.

The success of this election is illustrated by the high turnout rate. With a rate of 75%, the May 2010 Philippine Elections ranks as among the highest all over the world. Now, the Filipinos could proudly say to the rest of the world that indeed this nation is the first ever country in South East Asia to have fully and successfully carried out the shift from manual to automated polls on a nationwide scale.

Media Meets Technology

The media as the country’s watchdog played an important part in the recent elections.

Aside from covering the events of Election Day nationwide in real-time using advanced technology on par with that used in CNN, the media served to mobilize the citizenry in getting involved on the country’s important issues and activities, using popular social networking sites, cell phones and blogs to connect with the masses, particularly the youth. The latter action was most remarkable, because it provided an avenue for vigilant citizens to send stories of anomalies happening on their regions.

The only snag on the elections on the side of the media was the perceived biases in news coverage of major media outlets in the country, leading some of the networks to be labeled as “yellow networks” and “orange networks”.

Political Dynasties

As a result of the elections, various political families perpetuated their influence.

The Marcoses in particular bagged several powerful positions in the government. From the new Senator Bong-bong Marcos; to his mother, Congresswoman Imelda Marcos; down to his sister, Governor Imee Marcos, who trounced their relatives at the automated polls, the stage has been set for a Marcos political comeback. The Garcias of Cebu are still in power despite the challenges to their dominance. The Singsons, who happen to be the oldest political dynasty in our country, continue to maintain their control over the people. In Davao, the Nograleses and Dutertes still walk the halls of power, within Congress and Local Executive positions as well as outside of it. Even the president himself is the product of a prominent political family.

These are but few of the hundreds of political families that still hold influence in the actions and plans of this country. The continued existence of political dynasties is in contradiction to Article II, The Declaration of Rules and State Policies, Sec. 26 of 1987 Constitution, but given their clout and our fixation with the politics of personalities and personal networks rather than in political platforms the phenomenon continues.

Our Tomorrow

The courage shown by the COMELEC to automate the nation elections is their legacy to our country. However, that legacy will be wasted if they will not impose honesty amongst themselves and if they will not speak of the truth on the controversies they face.

We Filipino voters are the reason why our elections ended successfully. Our willingness to cast our votes and our strong participation to expose anomalies paved way for a hope-filled six years.

We have witnessed that technology played a great role in this year’s election. However, its contribution could never alter the substance of our electoral democracy. The challenge for us Filipinos is to vote based on platforms, not by fame or power. We should never let these oligarchs and political dynasties rule over us again and again. If not for us, election automation and the promise of a matured democracy can never materialize.

photo source: www.digitaljournal.com/article/285454