Bullying victims and even their parents can seek the assistance of the police against school toughies.
But Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said the police could only provide assistance in filing complaints before the school or the Department of Education due to sensitivity of the matter.
“We have the WCPC (Women and Children Protection Center) if it involves children. We could provide assistance to the parents in lodging complaint before the school,” said Albayalde.
The official explained that the police could not just intervene on the issue especially if both the victims and the bullies are minors and if the bullying occurred inside the schools.
He said there is even no penalty for the bullies if they preyed on their classmates and schoolmates inside the schools due to the sensitivity of the problem.
Albayalde even cited the case of his youngest daughter who was a victim of bullying in a school in Central Luzon.
All that they did, he said, was to call the attention of the principal about the bullying and the only solution done was to transfer the section of the child who bullied his daughter.
Aside from the school principal, policemen could also assist the parents of the bullying victims to the Department of Education in order to compel the school administration to address the problem.
The only penalty that he is aware of, according to Albayalde, is that the school could be ordered to close if the bullying case is so serious and the school administration did not act on the problem.
But Albayalde assured the public that the police, through the WCPC, could provide the necessary assistance once the parents or bullying victims seek their assistance. (Aaron Recuenco)