The Philippine National Police has formed task units to help school authorities address bullying cases, the most prevalent of which is cyber bullying, ahead of the reopening of school classes tomorrow.
Police Col. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson, said there has been an increase in the number of reported cases of cyber bullying, which is the act of sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else using electronic means.
Data from the PNP Anti-Cyber Crime Group said 13 cyber bullying cases were recorded in school year 2018-2019 from nine the school year 2017-2018.
In school year 2018-2019, 10 cases of cyberbullying were recorded in the National Capital Region and three in Region 4-A or the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area.
“Ito ang pinakacommon form of bullying sa mga kabataan. Ang bullying sa school minimal ang incidents so hindi masyadong prevalent at ito usually ay being handled by school authorities. Pero ang cyberbullying, outside of school na so ito ang tinututukan ng PNP,” Banac said.
Bullying in schools is generally a violation of Republic Act No. 19627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 which mandates all elementary and secondary schools to adopt policies to prevent and address the acts of bullying in their institutions, according to Police Col. Marvin Saro, chief of the Information and Communication Development Division of the Police Community Relations Group.
Aside from bullying, the specialized task units will also conduct intelligence and information gathering against possible kidnappers in schools, for presence of improvised explosive devices, and other efforts against threats feared by the public on the opening of school classes, Banac disclosed.
“The PNP will be aggressive and intelligence-driven in our focus police operations,” he said. (Martin Sadongdong)