BAGUIO CITY – “Palikan,” 15, (not his real name) is a Junior student in one of Baguio City’s public schools. Frail and lanky, it would seem that a typhoon gust can easily sweep him off his feet. But that’s the least of his concern.
For every school day while preparing to don his school uniform, his mind wanders aimlessly, imagining how to ward off the bunch of bullies that persecutes him no end at the school campus. A regular routine for him to think that way which was bared last September 1 when Daily Laborer visited him at their home in Pinget barangay.
His Mom, Kyrie, (her true name), seated at their kitchen table’s far end, placed her hand on her forehead, and continued, saying, “Namin-ano nga nagpulong ni Palikan kenyak ti abuso nga ar-aramiden dagiti estundyante kenyana ijay eskwela-an da.” Palikan is third among Kyrie’s three siblings.
“Ti pulong na ket adda aldaw nga basta lapigusen da lapayag na nga awan gapu. Nu talyawen na nu asinno nanglapigos kenyana ket kistongan da ti ulo na. Nu mamingsan met ket basta laeng i-corner da isuna ket saan makapanaw idiay eskwelaan ta masapa maka-awid ditoy balay. Nu maminsan mapukpukaw gamit na ket Makita na nga eggem dagiti mang-bulbully kenyana. Ken addu pay nga nagdadakes a sarita ti masagsagrap na.
Daily Laborer, seated at the kitchen table’s other end, sipped the coffee offered to him then caught a flash of anger pass before Kyrie’s eyes as she pursed her trembling lips relating her child’s ordeal.
“Have you told school authorities about what has been happening?” Daily laborer asked. Kyrie nodded, explaining, when she did, the bullying abated but her child still receives regular and ominous threats from the pack of bullies, many of them seen to indulge in imbibing alcohol and smoking after classes.
Palikan seated at the far end of their sala, glanced shyly at Daily Laborer and resumed pestering his cell phone, not really knowing when his being bullied will ever cease until he reaches senior high school.
Every generation has tales of bullying, but perhaps, today’s Philippine students are familiar with what it now means for a kid to be bullied. Bullying is one of the most prevalent and insidious forms of violence in Philippine schools today.
Newly appointed Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara, and one of the authors of the Anti-Bullying law of 2013, revealed that studies showed the Philippines as the “bullying capital of the world,” and that Filipino students bullied are among the loneliest.
On the other hand, no less than Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. expressed his worry about findings by a mega-Gallup poll that found “the Philippine’s Generation Z are the world’s second loneliest and first loneliest in Southeast Asia.
In the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, Marcos pointed out that PISA ranked the Philippines as the bullying capital of the world, as revealed by Karol Mark Yee, executive director of the Second Congressional Commission on Education or Edcom 2.
Generation Z members are those born between 1997 and 2012, the first generation to have fully grown up in a macrocosm of smartphones and social media.
“Filipinos feel that they don’t belong and they are the loneliest, “Marcos said and instructing Yee and Edcom 2 to address the issue.
In Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Police Regional Office-Cordillera (PRO-Cor) revealed in its report submitted to the Dagyaw, Open Government, the “Silent Pandemic” of Gender-Based Violence, held August 29 at Benguet State University (BSU) that incidence of bullying in CAR has gone down.
PRO-Cor said that of the 1, 299 bullying cases reported from July 2023 to June 2024, it dropped to 308 cases with Benguet having the highest cases and Baguio coming second.
Benguet recorded 384 cases, Baguio, 377; Kalinga, 155; Ifugao, 112; Abra, 125; Apayao, 71 and, Mountain province, 65 cases.
During the first semester of 2022, CAR had 355 bullying cases, 338 during the first semester of 2023, 318 during the second semester of 2023 and 308 for the first semester of 2024, the PRO-COR report revealed.
While the cases have gone down, PRO-COR is not that satisfied by the present statistics stated that it considers the remaining cases as “still many.” In fact, if PRO-COR has a wish for the coming months and Christmas, it wishes for a zero case of gender-based violence.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-CAR) Criselda Mae Aromin fully explained the focus of programs and services that DSWD-CAR imparts in addressing gender-based violence in the region.
DSWD-CAR target clientele on gender-based violence include, among others, those sexually abused, physically abused/maltreated, victims of trafficking, those abandoned or neglected, child at risk, strandee and delinquent.
DSWD-CAR services and programs for those abused include social service, home life service, educational service, psychosocial service, health and dental service, economic service, recreational service, dietary service and spiritual service.
It also has a community – based service responsible for technical assistance and resource augmentation for these vulnerable sectors to empower them to be active participants in development.
On the other hand, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR-CAR) Marlene Palangdao expounded how the commission goes about helping victims of gender-based violence.
Other panelists included Ms. Kelly Denn Tomas of the Pansegedan Advocacy Cooperative and Nathaniel Saquiban of the Council for the Restoration of Filipino Values.
Organizers of the Dagyaw, the Silent Pandemic of Gender-Based Violence profusely thanked the officialdom of BSU who extended the facilities of the state-run institution for the culmination of the event.
It was noted by the Dagyaw Forum that during the peak of the pandemic, gender-based violence across the country exploded to 14,000 cases, most of which happened at home.
Now, who are bullied most? It makes sense that identity scarred or despoiled can become a painful form of bullying.
Identity is especially important for school kids and other teens as they develop. Not being able to be themselves without fear of judgment or bullying from others is not only isolating, but can crucially reshape their peace of mind, self-assurance and preparedness to see a future for themselves bereft of pain.
Angara explained that each school is required by the Bullying Act of 2013 to adopt an anti-bullying policy. However, the law didn’t specify how strict the rule of thumb should be followed and he surmised that few schools possess anti-bullying blueprints.
On the other hand, panelists during the BSU forum acceded to the fact that bullying has a negative effect on students’ economic performance.
Bullying impacts the learning environment of schools in profound ways. Just as Palikan and others have experienced, victims of chronic bullying have poorer grades, increased rates of truancy, increased rates of dropping out, loss of self-esteem, feelings of isolation and depression — to the point of some even attempting to commit suicide.
And then there is the so-called, the bully, the bullied and the bystander. Bystanders are Filipino pupils who, having witnessed bullying are often intimidated and fearful it may eventually happen to them. As a result, witnesses may also perform poorly in school as their attention is focused on how to avoid being harmed rather than concentrate on their school chores.
Victims (those bullied) may also become bullies themselves and thus perpetuate a destructive cycle of violence.
Unfortunately, a lot of educators lack sufficient understanding of the phenomenon of bullying and of best practices in bullying prevention and intervention, panelists in the Dagyaw forum conceded. It was for the very reason that the forum was consummated to try and address this knowledge gap.
Considered the best implementer of the Anti-Bullying Act in schools is the guidance counselor. Unfortunately, there are at present vacancies going upwards to 5,000 for plantilla positions in public schools.
Such a position requires a master’s degree but no schools in the Philippines offer such a degree at present. “To fill all the vacancies, it will take us 14 years by the current setup,” explained Yee.
The hope of the panelists in the forum is, by bringing out the so-called, “silent pandemic,” it may serve to assist educators, government workers, parents, students and other interested individuals to understand bullying and all its forms and complexity and to plan and implement comprehensive and effective interventions across a number of levels based on this complex understanding.
Bullying casts grey shadows over pupils’ academic performance, mental health and over-all well-being. So, how can this challenge be faced?
The Dagyaw panelists are all behind the thought that schools should promote values of kindness and understanding through curriculum integration, modeling positive behavior across school-wide activities. Activities that jubilate on diversity regardless of socio-economic background or sexual orientation will aid pupils appreciate differences rather than to ridicule or fear these.
On the part of parents, they play a vital lead in preventing bullying and schools should actively involve them in anti-bullying activities by keeping them well-informed about signs of bullying and how they can respond if their children are bullied.
Moreover, parents should be encouraged to be role models on respect and emphatic behavior at home, traits easily picked up by the learners.
Peer influence is also a powerful instrument. Schools should be alongside peer-led initiatives where students take the lead in anti-bullying activities. Such initiatives create an environment of zero tolerance for bullying. Students are more likely to emulate their peer leaders.
