A clip of President Ferdinand Marcos posted on social media supposedly ordering the teaching of masturbation to four-year-olds was taken out of context. The president was actually opposing such inclusions in sex education in his full statement.
On Feb. 27, a TikTok user uploaded a 17-second video of Marcos seemingly advocating the inclusion of masturbation and sexual exploration in sex education for four-year-olds. The video carried the text:
“MATINO BA TONG LEADER NATIN? GANONG KA SEGURO ANO OR PAGLABAS MO PALANG SA SINAPUPUNAN NAGSALSAL AGAD!! OK KA LANG 4 YEARS OLD? BANGAG KA NGA TALAGA.
(Is our leader sane? That is how you may have been or right after you came out of the womb you were already masturbating!! Are you sure, 4 years old? You are really an addict.)”
In the circulating clip, Marcos’ first line was:
“You will teach four-year-olds how to masturbate, that every child has the right to try different sexualities…”
This was taken out of context, given that the next thing he said was:
“This is ridiculous. It is abhorrent. It is a travesty of what sexual and sex education should be to the children.”
In his full statement, Marcos was criticizing a pending bill in the Senate which he thought would encourage masturbation and “[try] on different sexualities” among children.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.
