Unless stopped by the courts, the Department of Education (DepEd) intends to proceed with the pilot-testing of sex education in public schools this school year, Education Secretary Mona Valisno said Monday. Valisno said the program was still in the “consultation stage” and that the DepEd had asked thrice for a dialogue with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) but the bishops have yet to respond. She said the DepEd would only stop the program if the courts decided to issue a temporary restraining order against the teaching of sex education in public schools.