A DAVAO City Councilor is proposing to penalties against bullies under the "The Anti-Bullying Ordinance of Davao City."
"Ang plano namo is naay penalty gyud para mas bug-at ug mahadlok gyud ang mga tao nga mang-bully (We are planning to penalize it so that people will be afraid to bully anyone)," Councilor Enzo Villafuerte, Chairperson of the Committee on Civil, Political, and Human Rights during the AFP-PNP Press Conference on August 31, 2022.
Villafuerte said if an institution is not able to resolve bullying cases in their jurisdictions, they will also be penalized.
"Kung sa school setting, ang mga administrators nato [ug] mga head sa school, sila ang ma-penalize (If the incident happened inside the school, the school head or administrators may be penalized)," Villafuerte said.
He said if administrators fail to handle the bullying case it will be escalated to the proposed Davao City Anti-Bullying Council.
"Sila ang maghatag og verdict kung unsa ba gyud ang pwede nga buhaton ani nga case (They will give the final verdict on what interventions will be given in bullying cases)," Villafuerte said.
The Davao City Anti-Bullying Council will be composed of the City Mayor, Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Human Rights, City Schools Superintendent / DEPED - Member, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Labor and Employment, Davao City Police Office, and the Philippine Mental Health Association.
Villafuerte also said minor offenders involved in bullying, victims, and the parents or guardians will be encouraged to participate in the rehabilitation and intervention activities.
Meanwhile, Villafuerte said in his privilege speech during the third regular session of the 20th City Council that the proposed ordinance aims to address the occurrence of bullying, which has been considered by some people as a 'normal occurrence'.
Villafuerte said the proposed ordinance is not only limited to bullying cases in schools but will also cover bullying in the workplace, cyberbullying, and bullying in other public places.
The ordinance proposed by Villafuerte defined bullying as "Any unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim such as punching, pushing, shoving, kicking, slapping, tickling, headlocks, inflicting pranks, teasing, fighting, and the use of available objects as weapons."
It also involves any act that causes damage to a victim's psyche and/or emotional well-being; Any slanderous statement or accusation that causes the victim undue emotional distress such as directing foul language or profanity at the target, name-calling, tormenting and commenting negatively on victim's looks, clothes, and body.
While cyberbullying or any bullying is done through the use of technology or any electronic means; and sexual bullying or the touching of any private part such as the legs, breast, buttocks, genitals, or any erogenous area of the body as a means to embarrass, annoy, irritate, threaten and torment the mind of a person, thus resulting in an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment to the victim.
Villafuerte said they are already done with the 2nd Committee Hearing and he is hoping that this ordinance will be approved and will be implemented before the year ends. (KSD)
