MANILA, Philippines — A bill was filed, a “smear campaign” was launched, and that same bill was stalled.

Senate Bill (SB) No. 1979, or the proposed Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of 2023, found itself in limbo after disputed claims from an initiative called Project Dalisay went viral.

SB 1979 includes mentions of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), which aims to help students “make informed decisions” and distinguish between “facts and myths about sex and sexuality, critically evaluate and discuss…sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion, and decide to prevent risky behaviors that could hinder the realization of their aspirations and potentials.”

The approach is also implemented via Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 31, series of 2018.

However, Project Dalisay asserted that CSE will rob children of their innocence, laying out lies that claim early masturbation, as well as anal and oral sex, will be taught to young students, among others. None of these are mentioned in the Senate bill.

Advocates who have put in the work for the passage of the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill called out Project Dalisay for “clear misrepresentations, fake news, and fearmongering.”

“If the group behind Project Dalisay truly wanted to help, they would have easily reached out to us or the good sponsor of this bill instead of waging a clear smear campaign against an important and urgent piece of legislation,” said the Child Rights Network, the largest alliance of pro-children organizations in the Philippines.

The Nerve took a deep dive into public Facebook posts related to Project Dalisay, the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill, and CSE — discovering signs of coordinated, inauthentic spreading of disinformation online.

Surge in CSE posts after Project Dalisay launch

The Nerve analyzed relevant posts from March 2023 — the month that SB 1979 was filed — until mid-February 2025. Despite being filed almost two years ago, a sharp surge in posts about the bill happened after the launch of Project Dalisay’s Facebook page on January 7, 2025, and after the release of their viral “Unmasking the Perils of CSE” video three days after on January 10. The viral video amplified the false narrative that claims CSE would teach young Filipinos about masturbation.

Not all of the public Facebook posts contained disinformation. A majority of the posts in the data scan were straight news reports and other posts debunking myths surrounding CSE. But data shows that the launch of Project Dalisay triggered online discussions, both factual and not. 

In The Nerve’s dataset, the first instance of anti-CSE disinformation was shared on November 14, 2024, by lawyer-pastor Jeremiah Belgica. Belgica linked DepEd’s CSE to a European document from the World Health Organization that says early childhood masturbation can be taught in the continent to children aged 0 to 4 years old.

SB 1979 stipulates that delivery and implementation of CSE “shall be integrated into the school curriculum, guided by DepEd and international standards.” However, it does not mention Europe’s standards for sexuality education nor any other specific guidelines.

Nonetheless, Belgica’s views and statements mentioning the supposed dangers of CSE were shared on the Facebook page of the National Coalition for the Family and the Constitution (NCFC), which leads Project Dalisay. NCFC is a coalition of Christian-based churches and organizations such as the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, Intercessors for the Philippines, and Christ’s Commission Fellowship, among others.

The misleading claim linking masturbation to the Philippine version of CSE became more prevalent after Project Dalisay amplified this narrative on its website as early as January 9. Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself echoed this false claim.

After the claim was debunked by fact-checkers and news organizations, Project Dalisay pushed back and asserted that, because the Philippines’ CSE will be following international standards, it would follow that childhood masturbation would be included in the country’s curriculum. 

The same “international standards” narrative was echoed by other actors, as revealed in The Nerve’s scan.

With Project Dalisay’s affiliation with Christian organizations, religious groups and parents have mobilized online to drum up support and gather more signatures for Project Dalisay’s petition. The petition, which they intend to forward to DepEd and the Senate, rejects the implementation of CSE and the passage of the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill.

These posts, most of which were similarly worded, called the bill a “deeply concerning piece of legislation.”

Spreading to local, buy-and-sell communities

The Nerve’s analysis also revealed that Project Dalisay posts have spread to different audiences, including a community of buy-and-sell, job hiring, and other local groups.

The buy-and-sell groups tracked by The Nerve all shared Project Dalisay’s top-shared video, which includes several fact-checked claims on CSE on supposed mentions of masturbation, anal or oral sex, and others.

“The main reason why they target these buy-and-sell groups is to make that claim that they are inclusive, they breach class boundaries, so that the presentation to the public — both offline and online — is that they’re plural, they’re diverse,” said Enrique Niño Leviste, associate sociology professor at the Ateneo de Manila University. 

“The more plural a political landscape gets, the more robust the number of actors at play, the more…multifarious the options that are presented to the public, regardless of where you stand socioeconomically,” he added.

This community also includes a handful of political groups supporting opposing camps of Vice President Sara Duterte and former vice president Leni Robredo — indicating that the sharing of disinformation narratives surrounding CSE is not limited to a particular political base.

Project Dalisay also reached a smaller network of religious groups in The Nerve’s scan. The groups did not share posts including outright disinformation, but some of these shared Project Dalisay’s post that pushed back against the “fake news peddlers,” saying they only want public discussion on the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill. (READ: Faith factor: Spiritual groups on Facebook as effective tools for disinformation)

Inauthentic Facebook accounts

The Nerve also saw patterns of coordinated, inauthentic behavior in amplifying Project Dalisay’s posts with outright disinformation.

In the dataset, a total of 49 Facebook accounts shared Project Dalisay’s top-shared video with various Facebook groups. However, many of these appeared to be sock puppet accounts.

For instance, of the 49 accounts, 14 have fewer than 50 friends, and 10 of these have fewer than 10 friends. Over half of these accounts — 31 to be exact — also used AI-generated or stock photos for their profile and/or cover photos.

At least 32 accounts also shared posts attacking Senator Risa Hontiveros, the principal author of the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill. These accounts amplified various attack narratives against her — that she’s a “pedophile” because she supports teaching children masturbation; that she supposedly used Philhealth funds for political gain (a claim that’s been fact-checked multiple times), and that she’s a mistress of an unnamed man.

On their profiles, at least 18 of these accounts also shared cryptic, similar status posts that contained different numbers, often with little to no context.

What does this mean for educators and gender advocates?

Narcisa Gaquing, junior high school (JHS) teacher at the University of Cebu-Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM), expressed concern over Project Dalisay’s claims, saying that the integration of CSE into the basic education curriculum allows students to learn about sex and sexuality in an objective manner.

“It should be clear for students. You don’t infantilize them by, for example, calling the reproductive parts as ‘flower’ or something like that. Call it the vagina, the penis. The students must be aware of that,” said Gaquing, who is also JHS coordinator of UCLM’s Gender and Development office.

Lucky Abala, who teaches health to JHS students at UCLM, added in defense that there’s nothing vulgar being taught to students when it comes to CSE.

“The concept of sex is so broad, but people may have been referring to the literal sense of the term. But if you take a look at the DepEd curriculum, we start with teaching anatomy, developmental growth of adolescents. Then we teach them how to take care of themselves and their reproductive health, then how to be in healthy relationships, how to deal with gender-based violence,” Abala emphasized.

“You provide correct information to the students, so they properly understand what to do,” he added.

Both Gaquing and Abala stressed the importance of inviting experts, such as doctors and guidance counselors, to impart their knowledge on sex, sexuality, and reproductive health. 

Leviste also talked about the importance of fostering an environment where young Filipinos can talk about age-appropriate issues related to sex. 

“By opening the education space to have more difficult conversations…you extend the conversation to the household which is the most fundamental space where such topics have to be discussed in the first place,” he said. 

For Leviste, disinformation against CSE and the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill is being weaponized “to discredit, to undermine, [and] to weaken” proponents and arguments and to “[consolidate] support by any means possible.”

“Project Dalisay, whether they admit it openly or not, they know that they're up against a credible group of advocates. Those who have been connected historically to communities…academics who have devoted their lives to doing research on gender, sexual rights and health, so forth and so on,” he elaborated. 

“So this is a formidable coalition. And probably, one way of discrediting or undermining or weakening this coalition is to push for untruths, to push for disinformation.”

Two weeks after NCFC launched Project Dalisay and the initiative’s disinformation narratives spread online, senators began withdrawing their support for SB 1979.

Advocates who have worked for many years for the passage of an adolescent pregnancy prevention law in the Philippines lamented the stagnation of their efforts, sounding the alarm over adolescent pregnancy rates in the country.

To address disinformation narratives surrounding CSE and the anti-adolescent pregnancy bill, Leviste advised to “look beyond formal institutions of power,” explaining that discussions will always be vulnerable to “political pressure.”

But to properly combat such narratives, Leviste said these discussions must include those who are not usually included in policymaking — like the students, parents, and communities.

“The process is not that inclusive. Only the upper middle and middle classes are included, while those in the lower class are sidelined,” he elaborated. “There’s always the assumption that they cannot keep up with the discussions, when in fact, if you engage them, they actually can. They may have different perspectives from us, but it’s enlightening and it’s empowering to actually listen to their stories.”

Among initiatives proposed by Leviste are extensive information campaigns at the barangay level and family conversations aided by local advocacy organizations, and multisectoral discussions on combating disinformation.

“It’s about making sure that stakeholders or political advocates of CSE have to make sure that they fight for those spaces in the political landscape…. The more that there are spaces for discussion, the less likely for a group to monopolize information and power over this campaign,” he explained. – Rappler.com

All quotes have been translated into English for brevity.

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This story was originally published on Rappler on March 4, 2025.

Decoded is a Rappler series that explores the challenges and opportunities that come with living in transformative times. It is produced by The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative & network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.