EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara yesterday said the de-partment is reviewing the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Law of 2013 to better address the prevalence of bullying incidents in public schools.
“We are reviewing the IRR of the anti-bullying law as well as making sure there is greater compliance with the law, especial-ly the adoption of stringent policies which is required by law,” Angara said of the DepEd’s effort to tackle bullying cases in schools.
“Kailangan ng repasuhin at maging mas masinop tayo sa pagbabantay ng mga bullying incidents dahil nakita natin na kahit isang dekada na ang nakaraan hindi lahat ng eskwela ay may anti-bullying policies (There is a need to review and guard against bullying incident because not all schools have anti-bullying policies even after a decade has passed.) So, we really (want to) make sure that all schools have policies against bully-ing,” he added.
While it is reviewing the IRR of the law, Angara said the Deped has strengthened the learner protection office to increase capac-ity and ensure more people are available to help victims.
The 2nd Congressional Commission on Education recently said that despite the anti-bullying law, 10,018 public schools have no localized anti-bullying policies.
Efforts to stamp out bullying have also been stymied by the critical shortage of qualified guidance counselors.
Angara earlier explained that the current licensure act mandates a master’s degree for guidance counselor positions, resulting in over 4,400 vacancies in DepEd, with some regions – specifical-ly Mimaropa and Region 8 – having no graduates in Masters and Guidance and Counseling since 2018.
“We have over 4,400 vacancies. And the problem is walang kumukuha ng guidance counselling sa college. So, y’ung supply and demand hindi nagtutugma,” he said.
To address the problem, Angara said the DepEd is “priori-tizing filling up guidance counselor or similar positions to ensure there are people to help.”
