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Manila: Bishops criticised a lawmaker's suggestion that leaders of the Catholic Church should undergo sex education to understand the importance of passing a family planning Bill in Congress.
"The Church has long been giving sex education in Catholic schools.
"Bishops have been presidents or owners of these schools," said Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
"We are well-versed on human sexuality. The Church is more knowledgeable about human sexuality. It has more documents than our congressmen might have on human sexuality," Quitorio said.
He was reacting to leftist Congresswoman Risa Hontiveros, who said on Monday that Catholic bishops must observe sex education sessions, which the congressmen wanted institutionalised after the passage of the controversial Bill.
Parallel Bill
Authors of the Reproductive Health Care Act and Church leaders have also agreed to meet and settle their differences.
Father Melvin Castro, head of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said the Catholic Church and some Catholic lawmakers have already drafted a parallel Bill to soften the proposed family planning Bill, which was also criticised as "anti-life".
The parallel Bill proposed regulation and control of over-the-counter sales of contraceptives without prescription, said Castro, adding, "We can't simply follow what the world wants us to do".
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