Bullying Victims Not Helpless Under PH Laws

Everglades
National Park
Everglades
National Park is
an amazing
place. Located
near the
southern tip of
Florida, it is a
wilderness
wetlands of
swamps,
marshes, and
lakes. The park
is the home of
animals,
including many
rare ones such
as the Florida
panther. The
Bullying victims not helpless under PH laws
By Ma. Cristina Arayata
June 23, 2018
MANILA – It’s school opening time again, and the issue of bullying is cropping up anew. Bullied students and their
parents as well-need not be helpless.
Under Philippine laws, bullies can face consequences of their actions, even charged criminally.
“The targets or students and their parents are protected and can avail of legal remedies provided under the law,”
lawyer Armado Aquino III told the Philippines News Agency (PNA).
Aquino pointed to Republic Act No. 10627 or the Act Requiring All Elementary and Secondary Schools to Adopt
Policies to Prevent and Address the Acts of Bullying in their Institutions.
RA 10627 enables students to anonymously report bullying. Although disciplinary administrative action would not be
taken based on anonymous report alone, bullies are still subject to punishment once the report is established as
true.
The law requires the school principal or any authorized representative to report to the law enforcement agencies if
he or she believes the bullying is tantamount to a crime and, thus, criminal charges may be pursued under the
Revised Penal Code.
The law says students, parents, or any member of the school administration may report bullying instances or act of
retaliation that they have witnessed. Then school principal will either notify the police, take disciplinary
administrative action, notify the parents or guardians of the victim regarding the action taken to prevent any further
acts of bullying.
For non-compliance of RA 1067, the Secretary of the Department of Education shall prescribe the appropriate
administrative sanctions on school administrators. Erring private schools shall likewise suffer the penalty of
suspension of their permits to operate.
Types of bullying
Based on section 2 of RA 1067, bullying takes many forms.

It defines bullying as “any severe or repeated use by one or more students of a written, verbal, or electronic
expression, or a physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof, directed at another student that has the effect
of actually causing or placing the latter in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to his property,
creating a hostile environment at school for the other student, infringing on the rights of the other student at school;
or materially and substantially disrupting the education process or the orderly operation of a school.”
The law says bullying may be in the form of pranks, teasing, fighting, and the use of available objects as weapons;
any act that causes damage to the victim’s psyche or emotional well-being.
For the sharp-tongued, bullying can also be any slanderous statement of accusation that causes the victim undue
emotional distress like direct directing foul language or profanity at the target, name-calling, tormenting, and
commenting negatively on the victim’s looks, clothes, or body.
Cyber-bullying or any bullying done through the use of technology, or any electronic means is also bullying
punishable under the law.
Aquino classified bullying into five basic forms: physical, verbal, relational aggression, cyberbullying and sexual
bullying.
The lawyer said physical bullying is often the easiest to identify, as this usually involves hitting, kicking, destroying, or
stealing property.
Verbal bullying is name-calling, insulting, threatening, intimidating, and also racist remarks and sexist comments.
Relational aggression, Aquino said, uses relationship to control or hurt others. This includes talking behind person’s
back, spreading rumors, etc.
Cyberbullying is in the use of social media, instant messaging apps, and any information technology.
Sexual bullying, Aquino said, involves humiliating words that target a person sexually, making vulgar gestures,
uninvited touching, name-calling, and the likes.
Aquino also cited Senator Edgardo Angara’s anti-bullying bill, which seeks to amend the existing anti-bullying law, by
including penalizing teachers and other school personnel, who, themselves, bully the students.
“Senate Bill No. 2793 aims to give more teeth to the DepEd (Department of Education) order by penalizing teacher
or any other school personnel who commits acts of bullying to a student, with a fine of not less that PHP50,000 but
not more that PHP100,000 and/or by imprisonment from six months to a year,” Aquino said.
He continued: “if the bullying resulted in the student attempting to commit suicide, the penalty will be a fine of not
less than PHP100,000 but not more than PHP500,000 and/or imprisonment of one to three years. If the suicide
attempt results in the death of the victim, the penalty will be a fine of not less than PHP500,000 but not more than
PHP1 million and/or imprisonment of three to six years.”
Senate Bill No. 2793 is yet to be signed by the President, he added.
How can parents identify if their kids are bullied?
Website verywellfamily.com enumerated some tips to help parents see signs that kids might be the targets of bullies.
If they say a lot of “drama at school “of if they say that others are “messing” with them.
Take note of what happened and how they felt. Assure the kids that they did not cause the bullying and give them
tips on how to overcome the experience.
“Vanishing friends”- Know your kids’ circle of friends. If you notice that some of them are vanishing or the kids are no
longer inviting them to your house, that can be a sign that the kid is being bullied.
Changes in mood- Verywellfamily.com stated that kids who are bullied may appear anxious, clingy, or withdrawn.
Some may also exhibit low self-esteem.
Minor injuries or health complaints- Parents should not only check if the kids have bruises or wounds. Take notice if
the child complains of frequent headaches and other ailments.
Binge eating- Somebody might have destroyed their lunch, so they binge eat when they get home. Others might also
skip meals to avoid being bullied.
Change in sleep pattern- A change in their sleeping habits could be because they experience nightmares. Sleeping
more than normal, crying until they fall asleep could also be indicators that the child is being bullied.
Failing grades- This is because bullied children may find

it difficult to focus on schoolwork.
Lost possessions- Bullies could have damaged or stolen their belongings.

Ejada, Domenek
Rubilla, John Jerome
Valenzona, Ruben
Amador, Erica
Omolon, Ilyn
Panoy, Catherine Mae
FACTS & OPINION:
1. Anonymous bullying reports cannot be basis for punishing the bully unless the report is verified to be factual.
2. Bullying is a crime.
3. Bullying is prevalent in all academic institutions.
HOW TO PROVE THAT THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE:
1. It can be verified by looking at the legal documents. According to the legislative documentation, RA 10627 or
the Anti-Bullying Act, prohibits using anonymous bullying allegations as a basis for punishing the bully unless the
reports can be reliably verified as accurate.
2. It can be verified by looking at the legal evidence mentioned in the preceding article. It is stated that an act of
bullying can be punishable by law under Republic Act 10627, also known as the "Anti-Bullying Act of 2013." Under
this law, this addresses the growing incidences of bullying inside or outside the school. Punishable actions may
classify into five basic forms namely: physical, verbal, relational aggression, cyberbullying and sexual bullying.
3. This statement can be proven if we conduct research. A statement can be proven to be true if it has solid
evidence. So by collecting data, we can prove that this statement is true if the result is in favor of our side or
statement.

Bullying Victims Not Helpless Under PH Laws

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Bullying Victims Not Helpless Under PH Laws

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Everglades

Based on section 2 of RA 1067, bullying takes many forms.

How can parents identify if their kids are bullied?

Failing grades- This is because bullied children may find

Lost possessions- Bullies could have damaged or stolen their belongings.

FACTS & OPINION:

HOW TO PROVE THAT THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE:

You might also like