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AlthoughWesternization andglobalization have influenced Filipinos who live in the metropolitan areas, the overall culture remains quite conservative in its sexual values.[1] Filipino sexuality is affected byeducation received from schools, themedia, the rise of theinternet, 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 theconstitution of the Philippines which promulgates that thesexual act should happen only within the framework ofmarried life between a man and woman, because this personal human expression is solidly connected to the family unit and to society as a whole.[2]
As a predominantly Christian country, the Philippines considers that the only sexual behavior morally and legally acceptable and appropriate isheterosexual intercourse within amonogamous marriage, with the exception ofpolygamous marriage as practiced by some Filipino minority groups and by Muslim communities in theMindanao, southern, and southwestern regions of the Philippines, as long as the men of these population are financially capable of supporting their multiple wives.[2][3]
Nonmarital sexual behavior, such aspornography andprostitution, are banned (by articles 201 and 202 of theRevised Penal Code, respectively).[4] Although considered morally inappropriate, quiethomosexuality andheterosexual cohabitation have become socially accepted to a certain degree.[1] Homosexuality is legal in the Philippines, however the idea of legalizingsame-sex marriage remains the subject of debate by "both Church and State".[2]
Furthermore, theRoman Catholic Church is the primary influence in legal, political, and religious views of sexuality, birth control andcontraception,abortion, education (includingsex 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 thatpremarital sex andmasturbation are immoral behaviors, and that homosexuality – similar to the form of Catholicism introduced by the Spanish missionaries – is an abnormal human conduct.[3]
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 theirvirginity until marriage. However, there are some tribal Filipino communities who permit young men and women to engage in sexual activities beginning from the stage ofpuberty.[3]
Before the arrival of the first group of Spaniards in the Philippine islands on the shores ofCebu, under the leadership ofFerdinand 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.[3][5]
Ancient unmarried Filipino women were encouraged by their cultural orientation at the time to participate freely in sexual activities. According toAntonio Pigafetta and Friar Juan de Plasencia, as explained byStanley Karnow in his book,In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines and inThe Body Book by Fe Maria C. Arriola, apart frompenile piercing through the use of rods made of tin or gold with dimension similar to agoose-quill which may or may not have pointed spurs, the men were also using otherpenile adornments such as thesagra and an item known inTagalog aspilik-mata ng kambing or "goat's eyelashes".[6]
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.[6]
In addition to this, about one thousand years ago, the FilipinoIfugao people of northern central Philippines already hadwell-established values regarding 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 thedowry.[3]
In 10th-century Philippines, the ChineseLimahong already introduced the concept ofmonogamy to ancient Filipinos, as exemplified in the cultural practices of the Ifugaos, theNegritos, and theIgorots. These Filipino ethnic communities also permitted marriages between girls and boys who have reached the age of puberty.[3]
Filipino historianAmbeth 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 unabridgedEnglish-language translation of the 25th chapter ofJose Rizal'sSpanish-language novel, theNoli Me Tangere:[7]
As a part of the process of converting ancient native Filipinos intoCatholicism, 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 theVirgin Mary.[5]
After 1898,Protestants from theUnited States brought and shared their attitudes on sexuality with the people of the Philippines, which were based on the doctrines ofJudaism andProtestant 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 thePhilippine Independent Church and theIglesia ni Cristo or "Church of Christ".[3]
Prior to 1969,sex education in the Philippines was non-existent. Instructions were limited only to discussions onpregnancy andchildcare 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.[8]
After theWorld Health Organization and thePhilippine government's introduction of programs onfamily planning andbirth/conception control in 1969, suburban and rural Philippine communities received training in these programs, with instructions on basicbiology, pregnancy, andcontraception that focused on the use ofbirth control pills. This program was clandestinely sustained by the Roman Catholic Church to "reduce the family's burden of child rearing because of poverty".[8]
In 1970, Philippine high schools and colleges began to include teachings related topublic health, sexually transmitted diseases, and limited information onhuman reproduction and human sexuality in thecurriculum for science courses, such asbiology. The limitation was truncated by the Filipino tradition of not explicitly mentioning or showing images of the male and femalesex organs even for educational purposes.[8]
In 1972, the government ofFerdinand Marcos formally offered sexual education programs at all levels of education.[8]Human sexual development and population were topics in science and biology subjects in elementary schools.[8]
High school students received elementary and basic-level of biological information and family planning, with emphasis that separation anddivorce are illegal in the Philippines.[8] Information aboutlegal separation orde facto separation were also taught in Philippine public schools due to its high incidence of occurrence in lower-class families.[8]
During the 1980s, seminars and international conferences were held byschools of medicine as an addition to ongoing courses on human sexuality.[8]
Research onpopulation control, sexually transmitted diseases, premarital sex,sexual harassment, andAIDS began to be conducted during the 1990s.[8]
As of 2017 more than 30 million Filipinos can reach the Internet through a smartphone,[9] tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Thereby they have access to practically unlimited information about sexuality, including birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and sexually explicit video.
In 2018, theDepartment of Education issued Memorandum No. 31 which integrates "age and development-appropriate" comprehensive sex education in public and private schools in the Philippines[10]
Contemporary studies and surveys show the effects of ongoing sex education in the Philippines:
A 1994 survey was carried out by Dr. Z.C. Zablan, a demography professor from the Population Institute of theUniversity of the Philippines, 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.[1]
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.[1]
In 2009, a survey was done by Iralaet 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 opposesexism.[11]
As of 2009[update], one source estimated that there were 800,000 women working as prostitutes in the Philippines.[12]
Prostitution caters to local customers and foreigners. Media attention tends to focus on those areas catering tosex tourism, primarily through bars staffed bybargirls. Cities where there is a high incidence of prostitution areAngeles City,Olongapo,Subic Bay, andPasay,[13] with the customers usually foreign businessmen fromEast Asian andWestern nations.[13]
Based on theRevised Penal Code of the Philippines andRepublic Act No. 7610,pornography is defined as doctrines,publications, andshows that are immoral, obscene, and indecent. Philippine legislations penalize involvement in these activities, including theabuse,exploitation,prostitution, and discrimination ofchildren.[2]
Seesingle mother phenomenon of Philippines.
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