Poe eyes amendments to anti-bullying law
Sen. Grace Poe on Sunday said she was keen on initiating a review of the current Anti-Bullying Act, saying the current law was giving school administrators “too much” discretion on when to act on cases of bullying.
Poe said she would soon file a resolution to hear out concerned stakeholders in a bid to review and amend the law.
“There is an anti-bullying law in place. However, we believe it should be strengthened to require concrete and timely action from schools,” said Poe, who is vice chair of the Senate committee on public order.
Poe said the bullying incident involving high school students at the Ateneo Junior High School showed the need to revisit the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 to fill in some gaps as to the role of the schools in dealing with actual cases.
She said the unfortunate incident should serve as a wake-up call for legislators to examine the law and plug the gaps to make it truly responsive to the problem of bullying.
“Anyone who has seen the video of the violent bullying incident would understand that bullying is a despicable act that insults our humanity,” she said referring to the recent viral video of a high school student who assaulted a fellow student on social media.
Republic Act 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, that was signed by then President Benigno Aquino III, mandates all elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to prevent and address the acts of bullying in their institutions.
The law 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.”
But the current law gives the school administrators too much discretion on when to act on the bullying case. “It leaves it up to them to determine whether appropriate action can be taken,” Poe pointed out.