MANILA, Philippines — A House lawmaker’s claim that most UNESCO members are atheists is impossible to verify, as the organization does not maintain a public record of its members’ religious affiliation. UNESCO’s staff rules also explicitly prohibit consideration of religion in employment.
CLAIM: Rep. Bienvenido Abante (Manila, 6th District) said “most of them [members of UNESCO]” are “actually atheists” during a House hearing on comprehensive sexuality education.
RATING: This has no basis.
FACTS:
What the lawmaker said
During the House basic education committee’s briefing on the Department of Education’s implementation of comprehensive sexuality education, Abante questioned why the Philippines should follow what he called “Western ideology,” claiming that most UNESCO members are atheists who do not believe in God.
He said, specifically, at the 29:53-30:16 mark of the Facebook live stream of the hearing:
If you’re going to study, Mr. Chair, yung mga members ng UNESCO, most of them are actually atheists. They do not believe in God, just like we do. Why do we have to follow Western ideology when it comes to this, Mr. Chair?
What the lawmaker left out
There is no publicly available database or record that shows the dominant religious affiliation or belief among UNESCO employees.
A copy of UNESCO’s 2023 staff regulations — its latest available version — shows that the “selection of staff members shall be made without distinction as to race, sex or religion.”
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