A recent report on abuses at the Philippine High School for the Arts by VICE World News, where students and graduates complained “of an entrenched culture of sexual, physical and emotional abuse impacting generations of children,” has highlighted the problem in Philippine schools and embarrassed government enough to result in investigations by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
As millions of Filipino children prepare to return to in-person classes by November, after missing two whole years of exposure to the potential evils of the outside world, a veteran legislator from Mindanao is also urging national government to revive what used to be the child protection committees in schools across the country, for the purpose of protecting children from all kinds of abuse.
“Where are the Child Protection Committees (CPCs) in schools that are supposed to safeguard learners against potential abusers?” Surigao Rep. Johnny Pimentel asked. He recalled that former education secretary Jesli Lapus ordered the creation of a CPC in every school precisely to assure children of safe spaces for learning.
The six-member CPC is composed of the school head as chairperson; guidance counselor/teacher as vice chairperson; a representative of teachers designated by the faculty club; a representative of parents selected by the Parents-Teachers Association; a representative of students named by the Supreme Student Council; and a community representative assigned by the barangay head, preferably a member of the barangay council for the protection of children.
“If the victim is 18 years old or above, and the case involves possible sexual offenses, then every school is also supposed to have a separate Committee on Decorum and Investigation (COD) under the Sexual Harassment Act of 1995,” Pimentel pointed out.
The visibility of the CPC and COD in every school is meant to deter abuses and encourage victims to come forward.
The pause in face-to-face classes may have resulted in many policies and safeguards being set aside or forgotten, but now that the country is gearing up for kids to return to school, all such protections must at the very least be put back in place. The young learners who have been deprived of healthy social interactions over the past two years will need all the protection they can get as everyone awkwardly adjusts to the new normal that has to be made as safe as possible by the government that is rushing to see it through.*
