Nearly two-thirds of Filipino Grade 5 students are bullied at least once a week, placing the Philippines among the countries with the highest school bullying rates globally, according to figures from the Second Congressional Commission on Education cited during a Senate hearing Monday.
The data framed a broader debate at a joint session of the Senate Committee on Basic Education and the Committee on Finance, where legislators examined whether the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 and current Department of Education protocols are adequate to address what EDCOM II describes as a systemic crisis in Philippine schools.
EDCOM II technical specialist for basic education Riz Comia told lawmakers that bullying is not a peripheral issue but a direct contributor to the country’s learning crisis. Students subjected to weekly bullying scored 41 points lower in Mathematics and 52 points lower in Science compared to those bullied only once a month, based on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019. Separate data from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2022 showed that 53% of male learners and 43% of female learners experience bullying multiple times a month.
Comia also identified structural gaps inside schools that allow the problem to persist. Unfilled guidance counselor positions account for 79% of the total in public schools, and the widespread underreporting of cases continues to obstruct any meaningful response. Among the commission’s proposals are establishing a dedicated discipline officer position in schools and directing more resources toward anti-bullying programs.
Senator Raffy Tulfo called out what he characterized as a pattern of delayed and complaint-driven responses to bullying cases. He argued that schools, police, local social welfare offices, and DepEd should notify parents as soon as an incident is identified, rather than waiting for a formal complaint to be filed.
“That’s our problem—we are reactionary. What do you do when you find out that a child has been bullied in a certain school? Do you call the parents?” Tulfo said.
Tulfo backed a proposal to impose penalties on the parents of students found guilty of bullying, suggesting community service — specifically janitorial duty at the school — as an appropriate sanction.
“Tama ka, Mr. Chair, dapat may parusa sa mga magulang. When I say parusa, siguro community service. Tapos ikaw maging janitor sa school,” he said.
Education committee chair Senator Bam Aquino, who raised the parental accountability proposal, also pushed for a cultural shift in how students respond when they witness bullying. He said bystander behavior must give way to active intervention, and that schools need to act on incidents within days, not weeks.
“Dapat hindi ganoon yung kultura natin. Yung kultura dapat natin, we step in kapag may inaapi. Dapat we step in right away,” Aquino said.
He also described the Philippines’ bullying problem in stark terms, framing the Senate review as a step toward reversing the country’s standing.
“How do we go from being the bullying capital to having a zero-bullying policy? Unang-una, yung preventive—mahalaga ‘yan. Dapat alam ng mga tao na hindi dapat ito ginagawa,” Aquino said.
DepEd lawyer Razzel Ann Requesto said the department is already running capacity-building programs aimed at encouraging students to act as “upstanders” rather than bystanders. She added that initiatives to strengthen parental involvement in bullying prevention are also being developed, in line with EDCOM II recommendations. Lawmakers said the ongoing Senate review will determine whether those measures, along with existing school reporting systems, go far enough.
