THE newly signed Republic Act (RA) No. 12080, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, highlighted the lack of localized anti-bullying policies in more than 10,000 schools, the Senate said on Monday.
In November, the Second Congressional Commission on Education reported 10,018 schools with no regulations to safeguard children against bullying despite being required by the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, under RA 10627.
“This absence has contributed to the Philippines recording the highest rates of bullying among students in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018,” the Senate said in a statement.
In the 2018 PISA report, 65% of Filipino students reported being bullied a few times in a month, much higher than the average 23% of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.
The Department of Education Learner Rights and Protection Office noted that since the legislation of the Anti-Bullying Law in 2013, the number of reported incidents from 2018 to 2019 reached 20,172, the highest among reported incidents from 2013 to 2023.
Meanwhile, the 2022 PISA report revealed that 43% of girls and 53% of boys experience bullying multiple times a month.
Through RA 12080, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, who co-authored the law, hopes to address these alarming issues of bullying and support the mental health of students.
“This law seeks to address gaps in the education system’s ability to support student mental health, especially since the Philippines has the highest reported cases of bullying among students in the world,” Mr. Gatchalian said in a statement.
“We hope to ensure a safer, more supportive environment for Filipino learners,” he added.
The newly signed law mandates a school-based mental health program for all public and private basic education institutions to promote mental health awareness and provide services such as screening, evaluation, monitoring of students’ mental well-being, mental health first aid, crisis response, and referral systems.
New plantilla positions will also be created for school counselors, counselor associates, and school division counselors to address the “alarmingly low” ratio of guidance counselors to students in many public schools and give adequate support to students in need.
In addition, a mental health and well-being office in every school division is also required by the law to monitor, train, and provide the framework for school-based mental health programs.
“When our learners and school personnel are mentally healthy, academic performance improves, absenteeism decreases, and a culture of compassion and understanding flourishes,” President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. said in a statement. — Almira Louise S. Martinez
