10/09/2026
SOLIDARITY STATEMENT: GENDER-RESPONSIVE EDUCATION IS LEARNER PROTECTION!
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Signed by 100 organizations nationwide, leads this collective call for the full and consistent implementation of DepEd's Child Protection Policy and Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy.
We, the undersigned organizations, reaffirm our full support to the Department of Education and its unwavering commitment to implementing its Child Protection Policy (DepEd Order 40, s. 2012) and the Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy (DepEd Order 32, s. 2017). These are policies that safeguard the rights, dignity, and safety of every Filipino learner, shaped by years of evidence, pedagogy, child development, and the lived realities of Filipino children.
The need for the proper implementation of these protections is urgent and evidence-based. The 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report found that LGBTIQ+ students face higher risks of school-based victimization than heterosexual students, including threats, bullying, and cyberbullying, with rates often nearly twice as high. They are also more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe.
This global evidence is reflected in the Philippine context. A study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (2026) found that LGBTIQ+ adolescents are more likely to experience bullying and domestic violence, with gender-nonconforming boys more vulnerable to bullying and gender-nonconforming girls more vulnerable to domestic violence.
Behind these numbers are real students whose safety and right to education are at risk.
Thus, we are alarmed by the growing narrative that frames inclusive and gender-responsive education as a threat to other students' rights and safety.
This divisive narrative is a tactic to distract us and keeps our focus away from the real issue: gender-based discrimination in schools is, in and of itself, a form of school violence. And, all forms of violence have no place in our schools!
Now more than ever, we must strengthen protections against discrimination, harassment, and violence and defend the policies that make safe, inclusive, and gender-responsive schools possible.
The Child Protection Policy (DepEd Order 40, s. 2012) only ensures that any form of abuse, bullying, and violence is not tolerated. On the other hand, the Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy (DepEd Order 32, s. 2017) merely allows students to learn how to be compassionate and kind to others regardless of who they are or where they come from.
Asking our institutions to backpedal on these policies is asking them to 1) say yes to abuse and violence and 2) say no to teaching the very valuesโkindness, compassion, and equalityโthat make every space all the more safe. It creates a false and unnecessary tension between goals that are not actually in competition. There cannot be safety and justice without inclusion and equality.
As a collective of multi-sectoral organizations, we stand in support of DepEd in their full and consistent implementation of the Child Protection Policy and the Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy. We also implore the Department, through their Learners' Rights and Protection Offices, to strongly take a stand against bullies and all forms of bullying that perpetuate gender-based discrimination and violence.
Learning institutions serve as our learners' second homes. We call on the administrators, teachers, and non-teaching personnel who serve as their second parents to mold our students, not only to be smart and excellent, but to also know the value of pakikipagkapwaโof treating their fellows with love, empathy, and kindness; of being a decent human being to all.
We denounce all forms of disinformation targeting gender minorities and the laws, policies, and programs meant to protect them. To the groups and organizations that manufacture these narratives, do not be the bullies of our learners.
Lastly, to our legislators and representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate, we demand the urgent passage of the SOGIESC Equality Bill, the Sharmaine Bill, and all other legislative measures that strengthen equitable and inclusive education and safe spaces for all.
Our only dream is simple and non-negotiable: every Filipino learner must be safe to be who they are and allowed to learn, excel, and thrive with prideโfree from shame, discrimination, harassment, and violence.
VIEW THE FULL STATEMENT AND LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE: https://bit.ly/GenderResponsiveEd
