Senator Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday pressed government and education authorities to aggressively enforce the nation’s anti-bullying legislation while demanding an immediate legislative probe into a horrific campus shooting in Tacloban City.
The violent assault inside a public high school resulted in three student fatalities and left dozens of others wounded.
Tulfo emphasized that initial findings pointing to bullying as the potential trigger for the bloodbath must be treated as a critical warning by academic institutions and policymakers alike.
“Ang iniulat na dahilan ng pamamaril ng mga menor de edad na suspek ay bullying,” Tulfo said in a statement.
“Bagama’t di tama ang naging paraan nila para resolbahin ang bullying sa kanila, isa itong nakakaalarma na hudyat para sa lahat ng mga eskwelahan at sa mga awtoridad: Lagyan na ng pangil ang implementasyon ng ‘Anti-bullying Act,’” he said.
The lawmaker urged the Senate to fast-track a formal investigation to scrutinize security or administrative gaps by school management and to formulate preventative strategies against future campus violence.
“Nananawagan tayo sa ating mga kasamahan sa Senado na kaagad magsagawa ng imbestigasyon upang makita kung may pagkukulang ba ang school, saan ang naging problema, at paano maiwasan ang ganitong mga insidente sa ating mga paaralan,” he added.
Law enforcement officials have already detained two underage suspects—students in the 9th and 10th grades—who allegedly fired upon a crowd of peers within the campus of San Jose National High School.
Tulfo warned that the fallout from unaddressed bullying has escalated to an unprecedented and dangerous level, far surpassing traditional verbal harassment, physical altercations, or self-harm.
“Kung dati ay masasakit na salita o pisikal na pananakit, at pagkitil sa sariling buhay ang resulta ng bullying, ngayon humantong na pagpatay sa ilang bata sa loob pa ng paaralan na itiruturing nilang ikalawang tahanan,” he said.
“Ilang buhay pa ang dapat na mawala bago tayo magising sa katotohanan na malamya ang implementasyon ng mga anti-bullying laws sa bansa?” he added.