As the country remains the “bullying capital of the world,” the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) said that all schools are mandated to have their own anti-bullying policy as School Year 2026-2027 opens on Monday.
EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee recently said schools should enforce the implementing rules and regulations of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara has signed the Revised IRR of Republic Act 10627, which mandates all public and private basic education institutions, including community learning centers and DepEd supervised overseas schools, to adopt and implement a standard anti-bullying policy.
“It is the first time that the revised IRR will start on Monday, June 8. We need to ensure that all schools will have their own anti-bullying plan and policy that should say what are the minor and major offenses,” Yee said.
Yee noted that based on the study conducted by EDCOM 2 and De La Salle University, the country is still the “bullying capital of the world,” with the highest incidence of bullying across all participating countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
“Sixty-five percent of Filipino children in Grade 10 said they were victimized by bullying several times a month. Then 40 percent said that they experienced bullying every week. What we saw is that all the children who were bullied, their self-confidence, their determination to study, were affected. So instead of talking, they chose to be silent. Instead of going to school, they chose to be absent. So we have a lot of problems with absenteeism, or children who do not go to school. The teachers also told us about this,” he noted.
It was noted that not all bullying incidents were reported to and by the Department of Education, as schools don’t report cases as incentives are given to those with zero bullying incidents.
Yee also cited the lack of guidance counselors to handle bullying in schools.
He said the PISA results highlighted the extent of the problem of bullying in the country. “Filipino learners don’t feel safe in school. They are afraid to go to school because of that. So we really need to resolve this.”
The start of a new school year is another opportunity to face the bullying problem head on. It may not go away immediately, but any improvement, such as finally enforcing the IRR of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, will be a welcome development in our efforts to address this persistent issue that seriously affects how Filipino schoolchildren perceive and perform at school.*
