Senate probe on bullying in schools pushed by Santiago

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Wednesday asked the Senate to conduct an investigation into the reported bullying in schools and come up with necessary legislation to address the problem.

In Senate Resolution 879, Santiago cited the case of Jamie Garcia, a student of Colegio de San Agustin, who has been allegedly a victim of bullying by another student identified as JB Bantiles.

According to reports, Garcia’s butt and genitals were often poked by Bantiles and another classmate.

But when Garcia could no longer take the bullying, he reportedly stabbed one of his tormentors with a ball pen and punched JB in the face.

“Although legal remedies are available to victims of bullying, such do not effectively curtail the rise of incidents of bullying in schools,” the resolution said.

Congress, it said, should then create preventive measures to address bullying inside campuses, “taking into account that the victims and the bullies are usually minors.”

“Schools should create a policy to address the existence of bullying in their respective institutions; such a policy should implement a process for addressing incidents of bullying in school and provide remedies that will allow parents or guardians of students to file written reports of suspected bullying,” it said.

“In addition, school administrators should be mandated to act immediately on anonymous reports of bullying to ascertain the truth of such reports and take steps to stop such acts of bullying,” the resolution added.