Lawmaker proposes community service, light penalties for ‘ghosting’

BPO workers talk to their customers. (AFP FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — Community service or any light penalty can serve as punishment for “ghosting,” a lawmaker said on Wednesday.

Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves Jr., the congressman who filed a bill seeking to declare ghosting as an emotional offense, said the punishment for ghosting “need not be heavy.”

Teves, so far, has not provided in House Bill No. 611 any penalty for ghosting, should it become an emotional offense.

“Wala pa ako nilalagay pero para sa akin kahit community service. It [punishment] need not be heavy, it’s just light. A slight reprimand, that will do,” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.

(I have not provided any punishment yet but community service will do. It need not be heavy, it’s just light. A slight reprimand will do.)

In his bill, Teves argued that ghosting in a dating relationship can be “mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting to the ‘ghosted person.’”

He added that ghosting can be “likened to a form of emotional cruelty” as it leaves the aggrieved with trauma due to “no real closure.”

In the interview, the Negros Oriental lawmaker also said that ghosting also affects the work productivity of the person on the receiving end.

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