FACT CHECK: Marcos’ comments on teen pregnancy bill taken out of context

Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suggested teaching four-year-olds how to masturbate and try different sexualities. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim has spread across various online platforms and has been reposted multiple times. One such video on Facebook has amassed over 1 million views, 2,500 reactions, 2,300 comments, and 7,800 shares as of writing.

Text superimposed in the video reads, “Mga solid ka-DDS ko, comment daw kung ano masasabi niyo. Mga loyalista, kaya niyo pa ba ipagtanggol to?” 

(To my fellow solid DDS supporters, comment what you think. Loyalists, can you still defend this?)

The video shows Marcos saying, “You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate,” followed by, “…that every child has the right to try different sexualities.”

Some comments on the video expressed their disappointment with the statement and suggested that Marcos should resign due to such remarks. 

One comment said: “Daghan nagmahay nganong gibutaran ka, wala gyud kay ayu nga pagka president gyud” (Many regret voting for you, there’s really nothing good about your presidency.) 

The facts: Marcos did not suggest teaching young children to engage in sexual activities. The statement featured in the video was taken out of context. His full remarks, made during a media interview following the launch of the Tesla center in Manila last January, actually reflected his opposition to Senate Bill No. 1979 or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act, a highly contested bill aiming to address teen pregnancies by providing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE).  

In the video, Marcos criticized certain provisions of the bill and threatened to veto it if Congress passed it. 

A transcript of his remarks reads: “Over the weekend, I finally read in detail Senate Bill 1979. And I was shocked, and I was appalled by some of the elements of that — because this is all this woke that they are trying to bring into our system. You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate — that every child has the right to try different sexualities. This is ridiculous, this is abhorrent.” 

The misleading video circulating online has been selectively spliced and edited to depict Marcos as making the suggestion that young children will be taught masturbation rather than merely commenting on this point.

While the President said he still believes in the importance of sex education, he opposed what he called “abhorrent” provisions in the current version of the proposed measure.

Comprehensive sexuality education: Senate Bill 1979 aims to empower young people with the information, tools, and values needed to navigate their sexual and social lives responsibly. If enacted, CSE would be integrated at all levels of education and would include “age- and development-appropriate” topics.

One clause that has drawn flak was the mention of adopting “international standards.” Critics have cited the Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe, which states that the age group 0-4 should be given information about “enjoyment and pleasure when touching one’s own body, [and] early childhood masturbation,” as well as “the right to ask questions about sexuality [and] the right to explore gender identities.” 

While critics interpret this to mean that young children will be taught masturbation, the bill’s principal author, Senator Risa Hontiveros, pushed back and clarified that the proposed measure does not contain any mention of “masturbation.” She has also filed a substitute measure following concerns raised by various groups. (READ: No masturbation: What’s inside the anti-teenage pregnancy bill)

According to a Philippine News Agency report dated January 23, Marcos has yet to read the new version of the bill. – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com 

Efren Cyril Bocar is a student journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar, enrolled in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. A managing editor of Amaranth, Cyril is a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 

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