MANDALUYONG CITY — Roots of Health has brought its adolescent-friendly approach to sexuality education to Becoming: The Philippine Sexual Wellness Summit 2025 on September 14 at Podium Hall, Mandaluyong City.
The one-day gathering brought together more than 1,000 parents, educators, health professionals, advocates, and young people to learn about sex and sexuality. Now in its second year, Becoming is the country’s only summit dedicated to advancing sexual wellness that is accessible, evidence-based, and free from shame.
Tapped to organize the Teen Zone, Roots of Health created Alice-in-Wonderland-themed sessions where young people explored often-taboo topics. Teens joined Consent Court with the Queen of Hearts and examined real-life consent scenarios; learned about SOGIESC through Tweedledum & Tweedledee as genderbread persons; and dropped questions at the Tea Party to discuss healthy relationships, readiness for sex, and contraception.
Visitors also enjoyed Gen-Z-inspired merch — from stickers promoting comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) to the popular “Marites the Matris” T-shirt, featuring a playful uterus design.
Roots of Health executive director Amina Evangelista Swanepoel joined the panel, It Takes a Village, emphasizing the need for free judgment-free, adolescent-friendly education and health services.
“Not every child has parents who are able—or willing—to talk about sexuality. This is common in millions of households in the country, but especially true in those that experience neglect and abuse. That’s why schools, health centers, and communities need to create safe, evidence-based spaces for learning. It truly takes a village to ensure young people are protected and empowered,” Swanepoel shared. With 16 years of experience, Roots of Health has taught sex ed to over 100,000 students in Palawan public schools. It has also provided 50,000 women with free contraceptive services, helping reduce teen pregnancies in Puerto Princesa by 60 percent since 2017.
Aside from direct services, Roots of Health trains and influences government and civil society partners to ensure that they, too, provide young people with judgment-free, empathetic care—an approach the organization believes is crucial to addressing challenges such as teen pregnancy and HIV.
“We’re trying to get everyone who is in a leadership role, especially around young people – whether it’s parents, teachers, barangay health workers, midwives, and nurses, everyone around them – to try to have some empathy with what they’re going through. To not shut them down when they’re actually asking for information and services. And to just be open and honest, and take some of the taboo away from discussing sexuality,” she added.
The summit, organized by clinical sexologist Dr. Rica Cruz and her organization Unprude, featured sessions and workshops on teen pregnancy, building healthy masculinity, HPV prevention, men’s sexual health, sexuality across the lifespan, and more.
“Sex ed is for all of us, and when we finally understand what sex really is, we also learn how to build a sexually respectful society—for ourselves, our children, and everyone,” said Dr. Cruz.
Building on its successes, Roots of Health is now expanding its reach beyond Palawan through its Palawan+ Initiative, which aims to bring its proven model of comprehensive sexuality education, contraceptive access, and health systems strengthening to more communities across the Philippines.
