EDITORIAL: Bullying Blues

THE staggering rise in bullying cases across Metro Manila—now breaching 2,500 in the current school year—is not merely an alarming trend. It is a wake-up call. One that echoes through classrooms, social media feeds, barangay halls, and households.

The Department of Education’s urgent response is necessary, but the challenge demands more than institutional alarm bells—it demands a national reckoning.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara’s multi-agency strategy recognizes the complexity of the issue. Bullying isn’t just a problem of student discipline; it is a reflection of our broken homes, overwhelmed schools, neglected communities, and the psychological toll of a fast-paced, often unkind digital age.

While installing CCTVs and increasing police visibility may create the illusion of safety, they do little to address the roots of cruelty. These should be temporary deterrents, not default solutions.

Crucially, the soft power of education and parental involvement must take center stage. Strengthening Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC), supporting values education, and building community-based rehabilitation programs are long-term investments that must outlive the media cycle of any one tragedy. Here, the rollout of the Parent Effectiveness Service (PES) Act becomes pivotal.

The PES Act—long overdue in implementation—may finally see real action as DepEd and DSWD pilot programs in high-need areas. This is a decisive step. Empowering parents with the tools to understand, guide, and protect their children is perhaps the most vital intervention of all. No policy can substitute for a nurturing home. And no curriculum can replace an emotionally available adult at a child’s side.

But while programs are being drawn up, students continue to suffer. The recent fatal stabbing of two Grade 8 students by their peers in Las Piñas is a horrifying reminder that words must swiftly become action. That incident is not just a crime; it is a mirror of a society that has failed to catch warning signs, build protective nets, or model conflict resolution.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is right: we cannot afford more lives lost while waiting for policies to take root. The PES Act must be enforced now. GMRC must be taught with sincerity. School manuals on safety must not be shelved after printing—they must guide behavior every day.

Let us be clear: no child is born a bully. Nor should any child suffer as a victim. Somewhere, someone failed them—through inattention, abuse, neglect, or absence. It is time we stop blaming the youth and start rebuilding the support systems that shape them.

DepEd’s inclusive approach—engaging DSWD, DOH, DOJ, DILG, DOLE, PNP, and others—is a good start. But coordination must be matched by accountability. Transparent tracking of progress, sustained funding, regular training for teachers and barangay officials, and accessible mental health services must follow.

In the end, what’s at stake is not just the safety of schools—it is the moral compass of a generation. The culture of violence and apathy that breeds bullying must be dismantled with empathy, structure, and commitment.

We have the laws. We now need the will. Let this crisis be the final catalyst for lasting reform—not another statistic added to a growing list of regrets.