What Counts as Bullying Acts
- Section 2(a) covers unwanted physical contact between the bully and the victim, including punching, pushing, shoving, kicking, slapping, tickling, headlocks, school pranks, teasing, fighting, and the use of available objects as weapons.
- Section 2(b) covers acts that cause damage to the victim’s psyche and/or emotional well-being.
- Section 2(c) covers slanderous statements or accusations causing undue emotional distress, including foul language/profanity, name-calling, tormenting, and negative comments about the victim’s looks, clothes, and body.
- Section 2(d) covers cyber-bullying or bullying through technology or electronic means.
School Anti-Bullying Policies: Mandatory Contents
- Section 3 directs all elementary and secondary schools to adopt anti-bullying policies to address bullying in their institutions.
- Under Section 3, school policies must be regularly updated and, at a minimum, must include the following provisions.
- Section 3(a) requires school policies to prohibit bullying:
- on school grounds;
- on property immediately adjacent to school grounds;
- at school-sponsored or school-related activities, functions or programs, whether on or off school grounds;
- at school bus stops;
- on school buses or other vehicles owned, leased or used by a school;
- through the use of technology or an electronic device owned, leased or used by a school.
- Section 3(a)(2) also requires prohibitions when bullying occurs:
- at a location/activity/function/program not school-related, and
- through the use of technology or an electronic device not owned, leased or used by a school,
- if the acts create a hostile environment, infringe rights at school, or materially and substantially disrupt the education process or orderly operation of school.
- Section 3(a)(3) requires prohibition of retaliation against:
- a person who reports bullying,
- a person who provides information during an investigation of bullying,
- a witness, or
- a person with reliable information about bullying.
Discipline, Rehabilitation, and Protective Procedures
- Section 3(b) requires policies to identify a range of disciplinary administrative actions for bullying or retaliation that are commensurate with the nature and gravity of the offense.
- Section 3(b) provides that in addition to disciplinary sanctions, the perpetrator must undergo a rehabilitation program administered by the institution concerned.
- Section 3(b) requires that the institution encourage the parents of the perpetrator to join the rehabilitation program.
- Section 3(c) requires clear procedures and strategies for:
- reporting bullying or retaliation;
- promptly responding to and investigating reports of bullying or retaliation;
- restoring a victim’s sense of safety and assessing the victim’s need for protection;
- protecting a person who reports bullying, provides information during an investigation, or is a witness or has reliable information;
- providing counseling or referral for perpetrators, victims, and appropriate family members.
- Section 3(d) requires policies to enable anonymous reporting of bullying or retaliation.
- Section 3(d) prohibits taking disciplinary administrative action against a perpetrator solely on the basis of an anonymous report.
- Section 3(e) allows policies to impose disciplinary administrative action on a student who knowingly makes a false accusation of bullying.
- Section 3(f) requires education of students on the dynamics of bullying, the school’s anti-bullying policies, and the school’s mechanisms for anonymous reporting.
- Section 3(g) requires education of parents and guardians on bullying dynamics, the school’s anti-bullying policies, and how they can provide support and reinforce such policies at home.
- Section 3(h) requires a public record of relevant information and statistics on acts of bullying or retaliation in school.
- Section 3(h) mandates strict confidentiality of the names of students who committed bullying or retaliation, limiting disclosure to:
- school administration,
- teachers directly responsible for the students, and
- parents or guardians of students who are or have been victims.
Distribution and DepEd Training Requirements
- Section 3 requires each elementary and secondary school to provide students and parents or guardians a copy of the adopted anti-bullying policies.
- Section 3 requires that the policies be included in the school’s student and/or employee handbook.
- Section 3 requires conspicuous posting of the policies on school walls and the school’s website, if the school has one.
- Section 3 requires the Department of Education (DepED) to include in its training programs, courses, or activities opportunities for school administrators, teachers, and other employees to develop knowledge and skills in preventing or responding to bullying.
Who Must Implement: School Principal Oversight
- Section 4 assigns responsibility for implementation and oversight of bullying-addressing policies to the school principal or a person holding a comparable role.
- Section 4 requires that any member of the school administration, student, parent, or volunteer must immediately report any instance of bullying or retaliation witnessed or coming to their attention to the school principal or the person designated by the principal.
- Under Section 4, upon receipt of a report, the principal or designated officer or person must promptly investigate.
- Section 4 provides that if bullying or retaliation is found to have occurred, the principal or designee must:
- notify the law enforcement agency if criminal charges under the Revised Penal Code may be pursued against the perpetrator;
- take appropriate disciplinary administrative action;
- notify the perpetrator’s parents or guardians; and
- notify the victim’s parents or guardians regarding actions taken to prevent further bullying or retaliation.
- Section 4 requires that if an incident involves students from more than one school, the school first informed must promptly notify the appropriate administrator of the other school so both may take appropriate action.
Reporting to DepEd: Deadlines and Cadence
- Section 5 requires all schools to inform their respective schools division superintendents in writing about anti-bullying policies within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act.
- Section 5 makes the written notification an administrative requirement prior to the operation of new schools.
- Section 5 requires that beginning with the school year after effectivity, and every first week of the start of each school year thereafter, schools must submit to their schools division superintendents reports containing all relevant information and statistics on acts of bullying or retaliation.
- Section 5 requires schools division superintendents to compile the data and report them to the Secretary of the DepED.
- Section 5 requires the Secretary of the DepED to formally transmit a comprehensive report to the Committee on Basic Education of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Penalties for Noncompliance by Administrators and Schools
- Section 6 requires the Secretary of the DepED, in the implementing rules and regulations, to prescribe appropriate administrative sanctions on school administrators who fail to comply with the Act’s requirements.
- Section 6 provides that erring private schools suffer the penalty of suspension of their permits to operate.
Implementing Rules and Regulations Timeline
- Section 7 requires the DepED to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of Republic Act No. 10627.
Effectivity, Separability, and Repeal
- Section 10 provides that the Act takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.
- Section 8 provides a separability clause: if any provision is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.
- Section 9 provides a repealing clause: all laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Act are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.