SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said parents, school teachers, and principals have civil liability once a minor student commits a crime.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Gatchalian said the Civil Code of the Philippines provides that parents, school teachers, and principals can have civil liabilities since a minor is their responsibility while at home or in school.
“Under the Civil Code, they have civil liabilities. This means they, too, can be charged and ordered to pay the corresponding fines in such circumstances. Parents cannot claim that they are not responsible anymore for their children because they have civil liabilities,” he said.
He added that teachers and principals are also accountable because while in school, they have parental authority over the children.
Gatchalian also said that “under the Family Code, school authorities also have liabilities due to the concept that they become the second parents of students while they are in school.”
The senator made the remark after a 14-year-old female student was stabbed dead by her male classmate inside their school in Parañaque City last week.
Days before her death, the victim supposedly informed her mother about alleged death threats she had been receiving from her classmate whom she said was bullying her.
Gatchalian said another problem confronting schools is that there are not enough guidance counselors, which is why bullying is prevalent especially public schools.
“Only about 10 percent out of 47,000 schools nationwide have guidance counselors,” he said.
Gatchalian said this is also why last year, the Philippines was at the top of the list of having the most cases of bullying among 70 participating countries in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
According to the PISA, students who are often bullied drop out from their schools, have low self-esteem, and have low performance in school. It was also learned that bullies themselves have experienced being bullied at one point in their lives.
Gatchalian said mental health programs and anti-bullying programs are important to stop bullying.
“Parents should also be reminded that they themselves have responsibilities. That they should not leave everything to the school and teachers. The parents themselves should discipline and guide their children,” he said.
He said the implementing rules and regulations on the hiring of guidance counselors were crafted to entice psychiatrists and psychometricians to apply for the job.
He said new entrants will receive Salary Grade 15 or around P40,000 a month, instead of the old rate of Salary Grade 11 which is only about P26,000 a month.
