Sexuality in the Philippines
Encyclopedia
Sexuality and sensuality in the Philippines or Filipino sexuality refers to human sexuality
and sensuality as perceived, expressed, experienced, and valued by the Filipino people
. This encompasses sexual behavior
, sexual practices, and sexual activities exhibited by Filipino men
and women
of the past and the present. This is also related to courtship
as practiced in the Philippines
, which involves strategies in finding or attracting partners for physical
and emotional intimacy
, sexual contact, sexual reproduction
, building a family, and other forms of individual interactions or interpersonal relationships, as set and dictated by their culture and tradition, religion, beliefs, values
and moral convictions, psychology, foreign influences, and other related factors.
or globalization
became a dominant character of the majority of Filipinos living in the metropolitan areas, these number of Filipinos remain to have a very conservative public and legal sexual values. Filipino sexuality is affected by education
received by Filipinos from schools, the media
, the rise of the internet
, religious teachings from their churches or other similar spiritual institutions, legal policies and laws, and the influence of urbanization or urbanized regions in the Philippines. There are provisions and policies in the constitution of the Philippines which promulgates that the sexual act should happen only within the framework of married life
between a man and woman, because this personal human expression is solidly connected to the family unit and to society as a whole.
As a predominantly Christian country, the Philippines considers that the only sexual behavior morally and legally acceptable and appropriate is heterosexual intercourse within a monogamous
marriage, with the exception of polygamous marriage
as practiced by some Filipino minority groups and by Muslim communities in the Mindanao, southern, and southwestern regions of the Philippines, as long as the men of these population are financially capable of supporting their multiple wives.
The following forms of sexual behavior are still considered illegal in the country: prostitution, pornography
, nudity
, premarital sex
, extramarital sex
, cohabitation
, and similar variants. Although considered morally inappropriate, quiet homosexuality and heterosexual cohabitation have become socially accepted at a certain degree. Homosexuality is legal in the Philippines, and the idea of allowing same-sex marriage remains being debated by "both Church and State".
Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church
became the primary influence in legal, political, and religious views and issues on sexuality, birth control and contraception, abortion, education (including sex education
, sexual roles of men and women, and homosexuality) and other aspects of civil life in Philippine society. Among the views of the Catholic Church include that premarital sex and masturbation are immoral behaviors, and that homosexuality similar to the form of Catholicism introduced by the Spanish missionaries is an abnormal human conduct.
One of the general pronouncements for the majority of Filipinos is that men should choose to marry virgin women and that women should keep and maintain their virginity
until marriage. However, there are some tribal Filipino communities who permit young men and women to engage in sexual activities beginning from the stage of puberty
.
, under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan
, in 1521, the ancient native Filipinos already had their own sexual and relationship practices. One of them is the carrying out of polygamy. Early Filipino tribal men had five or more wives, a marital ethnic norm of the archipelago at the time. Ancient unmarried Filipino women are encouraged by their cultural orientation at the time to participate freely in sexual activities. According to Antonio Pigafetta
and Friar Juan de Plasencia, as explained by Stanley Karnow
in his book, In Our Image - America's Empire in the Philippines
and in The Body Book by Fe Maria C. Arriola, apart from penilepiercing
through the use of rods made of tin or gold with dimension similar to a goose
-quill
which may or may not have pointed spurs, the men were also using other penile adornments
such as the sagra and an item known in Tagalog
as pilik-mata ng kambing or "goat's eyelashes". Pigafetta further described that there were adornments that are similar to the size of a cart nail, and that the middle section of the rod had a hole to facilitate urination. During sexual intercourse, the top of the spur while attached to the penis was smoothly introduced first into the woman's vagina, followed by the bottom portion. Once the penis becomes stiff, the rod or bolt stayed firmly, and cannot be withdrawn from the female's sex organ until the penis becomes flaccid.
In addition to this, about more than one thousand years ago, the Filipino Ifugao people of northern central Philippines already had a well-established values on marriage
and sexuality. An example of these is their custom of equating the size of a woman's breast and the wideness of her hips with the price of the dowry
. In 10th-century Philippines, the Chinese Limahong
already introduced the concept of monogamy
to ancient Filipinos, as exemplified in the cultural practices of the Ifugaos, the Negritos, and the Igorots. These Filipino ethnic communities also permitted marriages between girls and boys who have reached the age of puberty.
Filipino historian Ambeth R. Ocampo described that during 19th-century Philippines the sexually attractive female body parts of the time were the "bare arms, a good neck or nape" and "tiny rosy feet". This is exemplified by Ocampo's chosen passages from Soledad Lacson-Locsin's unabridged English-language
translation of the 25th Chapter of Jose Rizal
's Spanish-language
novel, the Noli Me Tangere
:
As a part of the process of converting ancient native Filipinos into Catholicism, the Spaniard missionaries forbade the use of penile instruments, and promoted Christian ideas of the wife's fidelity to her husband, premarital virginity, the notion of a woman's role as a "nurturing mother", and the reverence of the Virgin Mary.
After 1898, Protestant
s from the United States
brought and shared their attitudes on sexuality with the people of the Philippines, which were based on the doctrines of Judaism
and Christianity
. The branching out of this American-introduced Protestantism led to the establishment of similar restrictions and rules regarding sexuality as imposed by the Filipino founders of the Philippine Independent Church
and the Iglesia ni Cristo
or "Church of Christ".
in the Philippines was non-existent. Instructions were limited only to discussions on pregnancy
and childcare
within the confines of the family unit, specifically between female members of the home. Outside the family or the home setting, available informal information in the form of television and radio programs, illegal adult or sex publications, and the like was imprecise, flawed, or deficient.
and the Philippine government's introduction of programs on family planning
and birth/conception control
in 1969, suburban and rural Philippine communities received training in these programs, with instructions on basic biology
, pregnancy, and contraception
that focused on the use of birth control pills. This program was clandestinely sustained by the Roman Catholic Church to "reduce the family's burden of child rearing because of poverty".
, sexually transmitted diseases, and limited information on human reproduction
and human sexuality in the curriculum
for science courses, such as biology
. The limitation was truncated by the Filipino tradition of not explicitly mentioning or showing images of the male and female sex organs even for educational purposes. In 1972, the government of Ferdinand Marcos
formally offered sexual education programs at all levels of education, wherein human development and population were topics in science and biology subjects in elementary schools, while high school students received elementary and basic-level of biological information and family planning, with emphasis that separation and divorce
are illegal in the Philippines, although legal separation
or de facto separation were taught in Philippine public schools due to its high incidence of occurrence in lower class families.
as an addition to ongoing courses on human sexuality.
, sexually transmitted diseases, premarital sex, sexual harassment
, and AIDS
began to be conducted during the 1990s.
, in relation to the views on sexuality by 11,000 Filipino youth whose ages ranged from 15 to 24 years old. The result of this study that he entitled Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey showed that 80% of Philippine youth do not endorse premarital sexual encounters, 18% of young Filipinos accepted the occurrence of premarital sexual activity, while 2% gave a neutral position about the subject matter. Zablan also found out that 35% of women who graduated from colleges implement female liberalism and flexible attitudes toward sex, compared to 40% who preferred the use of contraceptives, and that 65% of less-educated and dependent females residing in rural areas have more conservative sexual values and behavior, but are more prone to not using contraceptives. In connection with this, Zabala’s study also revealed that there is a trend for refined and professional males to become relaxed and comfortable with copulation, with seduction and sexual stimulation, and with alternating active and passive social roles.
.
and Republic Act No. 7610, pornography is defined as doctrines, publications
, and shows
that are immoral, obscene, and indecent. Philippine legislations penalize involvement in these activities, including the abuse
, exploitation
, prostitution
, and discrimination of children
.
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
and sensuality as perceived, expressed, experienced, and valued by the Filipino people
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
. This encompasses sexual behavior
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...
, sexual practices, and sexual activities exhibited by Filipino men
Men in the Philippines
Men in the Philippines is a term referring to the male members of Filipino society, or men who belong or come from the Philippines, a country in South East Asia or the Far East...
and women
Women in the Philippines
The role of women in the Philippines is explained based on the context of Filipino culture, standards, and mindsets. The Philippines is described to be a nation of strong women, who directly and indirectly run the family unit, businesses, government agencies and haciendas.Although they generally...
of the past and the present. This is also related to courtship
Courtship in the Philippines
Traditional courtship in the Philippines is described as a "far more subdued and indirect" approach compared to Western or Westernized cultures. It involves "phases" or "stages" inherent to Philippine society and culture. Evident in courtship in the Philippines is the practice of singing romantic...
as practiced in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, which involves strategies in finding or attracting partners for physical
Physical intimacy
Physical intimacy is sensual proximity or touching. It can be enjoyed by itself or be an expression of feelings which people have for one another...
and emotional intimacy
Emotional intimacy
Emotional intimacy is an aspect of interpersonal relationships that varies in intensity from one relationship to another and varies from one time to another, much like physical intimacy. Affect, emotion and feeling may refer to different phenomena...
, sexual contact, sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is the creation of a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms. There are two main processes during sexual reproduction; they are: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the...
, building a family, and other forms of individual interactions or interpersonal relationships, as set and dictated by their culture and tradition, religion, beliefs, values
Filipino values
The Filipino value system or Filipino values refers to the set of values or the value system that a majority of Filipino people have historically held important in their lives. This Philippine value system includes their own unique assemblage of consistent ideologies, moral codes, ethical...
and moral convictions, psychology, foreign influences, and other related factors.
Core ideas and main influences
Although influences of WesternizationWesternization
Westernization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...
or globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
became a dominant character of the majority of Filipinos living in the metropolitan areas, these number of Filipinos remain to have a very conservative public and legal sexual values. Filipino sexuality is affected by education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
received by Filipinos from schools, the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, the rise of the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, religious teachings from their churches or other similar spiritual institutions, legal policies and laws, and the influence of urbanization or urbanized regions in the Philippines. There are provisions and policies in the constitution of the Philippines which promulgates that the sexual act should happen only within the framework of married life
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
between a man and woman, because this personal human expression is solidly connected to the family unit and to society as a whole.
As a predominantly Christian country, the Philippines considers that the only sexual behavior morally and legally acceptable and appropriate is heterosexual intercourse within a monogamous
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
marriage, with the exception of polygamous marriage
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
as practiced by some Filipino minority groups and by Muslim communities in the Mindanao, southern, and southwestern regions of the Philippines, as long as the men of these population are financially capable of supporting their multiple wives.
The following forms of sexual behavior are still considered illegal in the country: prostitution, pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
, nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
, premarital sex
Premarital sex
Premarital sex is sexual activity, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex, practiced by persons who are unmarried. Although it has always been practiced, in the West it has increased in prevalence since the mid-1950s...
, extramarital sex
Extramarital sex
Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in sexual activity with someone other than his or her marriage partner.Where extramarital sexual relations breach a sexual norm it may also be referred to as adultery, fornication, philandery, or infidelity...
, cohabitation
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
, and similar variants. Although considered morally inappropriate, quiet homosexuality and heterosexual cohabitation have become socially accepted at a certain degree. Homosexuality is legal in the Philippines, and the idea of allowing same-sex marriage remains being debated by "both Church and State".
Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
became the primary influence in legal, political, and religious views and issues on sexuality, birth control and contraception, abortion, education (including sex education
Sex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
, sexual roles of men and women, and homosexuality) and other aspects of civil life in Philippine society. Among the views of the Catholic Church include that premarital sex and masturbation are immoral behaviors, and that homosexuality similar to the form of Catholicism introduced by the Spanish missionaries is an abnormal human conduct.
One of the general pronouncements for the majority of Filipinos is that men should choose to marry virgin women and that women should keep and maintain their virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
until marriage. However, there are some tribal Filipino communities who permit young men and women to engage in sexual activities beginning from the stage of puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
.
Historical perspective
Long before the arrival of the first group of Spaniards in the Philippine islands on the shores of CebuCebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, under the leadership of Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, in 1521, the ancient native Filipinos already had their own sexual and relationship practices. One of them is the carrying out of polygamy. Early Filipino tribal men had five or more wives, a marital ethnic norm of the archipelago at the time. Ancient unmarried Filipino women are encouraged by their cultural orientation at the time to participate freely in sexual activities. According to Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta
Antonio Pigafetta was an Italian scholar and explorer from the Republic of Venice. He travelled with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew on their voyage to the Indies. During the expedition, he served as Magellan's assistant and kept an accurate journal which later assisted him...
and Friar Juan de Plasencia, as explained by Stanley Karnow
Stanley Karnow
Stanley Karnow is an American journalist and historian.After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in Asia during World War II, he graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in 1947; in 1947 and 1948 he attended the Sorbonne, and from 1948 to 1949 the Institut d'Études Politiques de...
in his book, In Our Image - America's Empire in the Philippines
Stanley Karnow
Stanley Karnow is an American journalist and historian.After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in Asia during World War II, he graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in 1947; in 1947 and 1948 he attended the Sorbonne, and from 1948 to 1949 the Institut d'Études Politiques de...
and in The Body Book by Fe Maria C. Arriola, apart from penilepiercing
Body piercing
Body piercing, a form of body modification, is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn. The word piercing can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to an opening in the body created by this act or practice...
through the use of rods made of tin or gold with dimension similar to a goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
-quill
Quill
A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-nibbed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen...
which may or may not have pointed spurs, the men were also using other penile adornments
Genital modification and mutilation
The terms genital modification and genital mutilation can refer to permanent or temporary changes to human sex organs. Some forms of genital alteration are performed at the behest of an adult, with their informed consent. Others are performed on infants or children...
such as the sagra and an item known in Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
as pilik-mata ng kambing or "goat's eyelashes". Pigafetta further described that there were adornments that are similar to the size of a cart nail, and that the middle section of the rod had a hole to facilitate urination. During sexual intercourse, the top of the spur while attached to the penis was smoothly introduced first into the woman's vagina, followed by the bottom portion. Once the penis becomes stiff, the rod or bolt stayed firmly, and cannot be withdrawn from the female's sex organ until the penis becomes flaccid.
In addition to this, about more than one thousand years ago, the Filipino Ifugao people of northern central Philippines already had a well-established values on marriage
Marriage and wedding customs in the Philippines
Traditional marriage customs in the Philippines and Filipino wedding practices pertain to the characteristics of marriage and wedding traditions established and adhered to by Filipino men and women in the Philippines after a period of courtship and engagement. These traditions extend to other...
and sexuality. An example of these is their custom of equating the size of a woman's breast and the wideness of her hips with the price of the dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. In 10th-century Philippines, the Chinese Limahong
Limahong
Limahong, Lim Hong or also called Lin Feng was a notorious Chinese pirate and warlord who invaded the northern Philippine Islands in 1574. He built up a reputation for his constant raids to ports in Guangdong, Fujian and southern China...
already introduced the concept of monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
to ancient Filipinos, as exemplified in the cultural practices of the Ifugaos, the Negritos, and the Igorots. These Filipino ethnic communities also permitted marriages between girls and boys who have reached the age of puberty.
Filipino historian Ambeth R. Ocampo described that during 19th-century Philippines the sexually attractive female body parts of the time were the "bare arms, a good neck or nape" and "tiny rosy feet". This is exemplified by Ocampo's chosen passages from Soledad Lacson-Locsin's unabridged English-language
Philippine literature in English
Philippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, then engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That...
translation of the 25th Chapter of Jose Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...
's Spanish-language
Philippine Literature in Spanish
Philippine literature in Spanish is a body of literature made by Filipino writers in the Spanish language. Today, this corpus is the third largest in the whole corpus of Philippine literature . It is slightly larger than the Philippine literature in the vernacular languages...
novel, the Noli Me Tangere
Noli Me Tangere (novel)
Noli Me Tangere is a novel by Filipino polymath José Rizal and first published in 1887 in Berlin, Germany. Early English translations used titles like An Eagle Flight and The Social Cancer, but more recent translations have been published using the original Latin title.Though originally written in...
:
- "At last, Maria Clara emerged from the bath accompanied by her friends, fresh as a rose opening its petals with the first dew, covered with sparks of fire from the early morning sun. Her first smile was for Crisostomo (Ibarra), and the first cloud on her brow for Padre Salvi..." (Padre Salvi, although a priest, is an admirer of Maria Clara.) "Their legs were up to the knees, the wide folds of their bathing skirts outlining the gracious curves of their thighs. Their hair hung loose and their arms were bare. They wore striped gay-colored blouses... Pale and motionless, the religious ActaeonActaeonActaeon , in Greek mythology, son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero. Like Achilles in a later generation, he was trained by the centaur Chiron....
(i.e. Padre Salvi, who was hiding in the bushes, acting as a voyeur) watched this chaste DianaDiana (mythology)In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
(i.e. Maria Clara): his sunken eyes glistening at the sight of her beautifully molded white arms, the graceful neck ending in a suggestion of a bosom. The diminutive rosy feet playing in the water aroused strange sensations and feelings in his impoverished, starved being and made him dream of new visions in his fevered mind."
As a part of the process of converting ancient native Filipinos into Catholicism, the Spaniard missionaries forbade the use of penile instruments, and promoted Christian ideas of the wife's fidelity to her husband, premarital virginity, the notion of a woman's role as a "nurturing mother", and the reverence of the Virgin Mary.
After 1898, Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
s from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
brought and shared their attitudes on sexuality with the people of the Philippines, which were based on the doctrines of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The branching out of this American-introduced Protestantism led to the establishment of similar restrictions and rules regarding sexuality as imposed by the Filipino founders of the Philippine Independent Church
Philippine Independent Church
The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, (officially the or the IFI, also known as the Philippine Independent Catholic Church or in Ilocano: Siwawayawaya nga Simbaan ti Filipinas (in in Kinaray-a/Hiligaynon: Simbahan Hilway nga...
and the Iglesia ni Cristo
Iglesia ni Cristo
Iglesia ni Cristo also known as INC, is the largest entirely indigenous Christian religious organization that originated from the Philippines and the largest independent church in Asia. Due to a number of similarities, some Protestant writers describe the INC's doctrines as restorationist in...
or "Church of Christ".
Sex education in the Philippines
Prior to 1969, sex educationSex education
Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
in the Philippines was non-existent. Instructions were limited only to discussions on pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
and childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
within the confines of the family unit, specifically between female members of the home. Outside the family or the home setting, available informal information in the form of television and radio programs, illegal adult or sex publications, and the like was imprecise, flawed, or deficient.
1960s
After the World Health OrganizationWorld Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
and the Philippine government's introduction of programs on family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
and birth/conception control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
in 1969, suburban and rural Philippine communities received training in these programs, with instructions on basic biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, pregnancy, and contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
that focused on the use of birth control pills. This program was clandestinely sustained by the Roman Catholic Church to "reduce the family's burden of child rearing because of poverty".
1970s
In 1970, Philippine high schools and colleges began to include teachings related to public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, sexually transmitted diseases, and limited information on human reproduction
Human reproduction
Human reproduction is any form of sexual reproduction resulting in the conception of a child, typically involving sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. During intercourse, the interaction between the male and female reproductive systems results in fertilization of the woman's ovum by the...
and human sexuality in the curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
for science courses, such as biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. The limitation was truncated by the Filipino tradition of not explicitly mentioning or showing images of the male and female sex organs even for educational purposes. In 1972, the government of Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
formally offered sexual education programs at all levels of education, wherein human development and population were topics in science and biology subjects in elementary schools, while high school students received elementary and basic-level of biological information and family planning, with emphasis that separation and divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
are illegal in the Philippines, although legal separation
Legal separation
Legal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally binding consent decree...
or de facto separation were taught in Philippine public schools due to its high incidence of occurrence in lower class families.
1980s
During the 1980s, seminars and international conferences were held by schools of medicineMedical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
as an addition to ongoing courses on human sexuality.
1990s
Research on population controlPopulation control
Human population control is the practice of artificially altering the rate of growth of a human population.Historically, human population control has been implemented by limiting the population's birth rate, usually by government mandate, and has been undertaken as a response to factors including...
, sexually transmitted diseases, premarital sex, sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
, and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
began to be conducted during the 1990s.
Filipino youth and sexuality
Contemporary studies and surveys show the effects of ongoing sex education in the Philippines:1994
A 1994 survey was carried out by Dr. Z.C. Zablan, a demography professor from the Population Institute of the University of the PhilippinesUniversity of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
, in relation to the views on sexuality by 11,000 Filipino youth whose ages ranged from 15 to 24 years old. The result of this study that he entitled Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey showed that 80% of Philippine youth do not endorse premarital sexual encounters, 18% of young Filipinos accepted the occurrence of premarital sexual activity, while 2% gave a neutral position about the subject matter. Zablan also found out that 35% of women who graduated from colleges implement female liberalism and flexible attitudes toward sex, compared to 40% who preferred the use of contraceptives, and that 65% of less-educated and dependent females residing in rural areas have more conservative sexual values and behavior, but are more prone to not using contraceptives. In connection with this, Zabala’s study also revealed that there is a trend for refined and professional males to become relaxed and comfortable with copulation, with seduction and sexual stimulation, and with alternating active and passive social roles.
2002
Another similar study was performed by the Values and Ethics Committee of the University of the Philippines in 2002 regarding the values placed by Filipino youth on human sexuality, related topics, and their relationship to the rising incidences of sexually transmitted diseases. This surveys participants included 292 randomly chosen individuals from nine colleges of a university. The result shows that although there were changing views about virginity and sexuality in the Philippines among Filipino youth, a large number of respondents value postponing sexual intercourse until they are married, status of their virginity, close ties with family members, non-participating in viewing or reading pornographic materials, non-engagement in activities that involve sex, dangerous drugs and other “dysfunctional behavior” resulting from familial problems. Similar to the Irala et al. survey above, this group of youth attributed receiving well-established values from parental guidance and upbringing received Filipino spirituality, and having trustworthy friends. However, that from this group, there were young people who believe that they are not vulnerable to HIV or AIDS, thus a few number does not adhere to safe sexual habits. Thus the recommendations of this study is to provide class conversations while at school on topics regarding the importance of values in relation to human sexuality and the introduction of open and direct peer counseling.2007
There was another study conducted by Dr. Corazon M. Raymundo and published in 2007 regarding the occurrences of premarital sex among Filipino highschool adolescents. Raymundo found out that there was a rising number of Filipino youth engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage. Twenty percent of this number involves students at the secondary school level. And that these sexual activities are usually unplanned, unwanted and unsafe. Raymundo also discovered that a considerable number of Filipino youth encountered reproductive health problems and had been infected by sexually transmitted diseases. Raymundo also noted that smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use are correlated to sexual engagements and other risky behaviors. She also mentioned that some Filipino teenagers either believe that they cannot acquire AIDS or that this illness is curable. Raymundo also pointed out the increase in the number of occurrences of teenage pregnancies. She recommended governmental provision and promotion of free yet better pro-life services related to reproductive health, maternal care, and education concerning fertility and contraception.2009
In 2009, a survey was done by Irala et al among 3,726 Filipino student teenagers regarding their opinions on relationships, love, sexuality, and related items. This study that targeted third year high school to third year college participants aged 13 to 18 years old revealed that they primarily received information and opinion on love and sexuality from friends and parents. Most female teenagers also oppose sexismSexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
.
Pornography
Based on the Revised Penal Code of the PhilippinesRevised Penal Code of the Philippines
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Act No...
and Republic Act No. 7610, pornography is defined as doctrines, publications
Pornographic magazine
Pornographic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines, sex magazines or top-shelf magazines are pornographic magazines that contain content of a sexual nature. Adult magazines are mainly aimed towards men, and in some parts of the world, many men's first sight of a naked woman has been in an...
, and shows
Sex show
A sex show is a form of live performance that features one or more performers engaging in some form of sexual activity on stage for the entertainment or sexual gratification of spectators. Performers are paid either by the spectators or by the organisers of the show. A performance would involve an...
that are immoral, obscene, and indecent. Philippine legislations penalize involvement in these activities, including the abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, exploitation
Child sex tourism
Child sex tourism is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, that is commercially-facilitated child sexual abuse...
, prostitution
Prostitution of children
Prostitution of children or child prostitution is the commercial sexual exploitation of children in which a child performs the services of prostitution, for financial benefit. The term normally refers to prostitution by a minor, or person under the local age of majority...
, and discrimination of children
Child pornography laws in the Philippines
Child pornography laws in the Philippines have recently begun to react to the growing commercial sexual exploitation of children in that country.-UNICEF Manila study:...
.
See also
- LGBT rights in the Philippines
- Obando Fertility RitesObando Fertility RitesThe Obando Fertility Rites is a Filipino dance ritual. Every year during the month of May, to the tune of musical instruments made out of bamboo materials, the men, women and children of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines wear traditional dance costumes to dance on the streets followed by the images of...
- Two-child policy
External links
- Leyson, Jose Florante J. The Philippines, www2.hu-berlin.de
- Palatino, Mong. Manila flip-flops on sex education, globalvoicesonline.org, July 4, 2006
- Cole, Joe. Revisiting Reproductive Health, Yellow Pad, bworldonline.com
- Lawas, Hector. 2 PinoyPinoyPinoy is an informal demonym referring to the Filipino people in the Philippines and overseas Filipinos around the world. Filipinos usually refer to themselves as Pinoy or sometimes the feminine Pinay...
s a Day to Catch HIV, journal.com - HIV threatens to infect two Pinoys daily –PNAC, balita.ph, February 14, 2010
- Philippines defends Valentine condoms, news.ninemsn.com, February 15, 2010
- Baytan, Ronald. Sexuality, Ethinicity, and Language:Exploring Chinese Filipino Male Homosexual Identity, jstor.org
- Constable, Nicole. Sexuality and Discipline Among Filipina Domestic Workers in Hong Kong, University of Pittsburgh, sjsu.edu
- Reyes, Raquel A.G. Love, Passion and Patriotism: Sexuality and the Philippine Propaganda Movement, 1882-1892 (Critical Dialogues in Southeast Asian Studies), amazon.com
- Sex in Philippine Cinema (2004), imdb.com