EDCOM 2 Urges DepEd to Enforce Anti-Bullying Law Rules

MANILA, Philippines — The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) has urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to fully implement the revised rules of the Anti-Bullying Act, saying gaps in enforcement continue to leave many students vulnerable to bullying. The commission said the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 10627, signed by DepEd in August 2025 after two years of consultations with EDCOM 2, have yet to be fully adopted at the school level. The updated rules broaden the definition of bullying to include repeated intimidation, cyberbullying, social exclusion and precursor behaviors. They also establish a three-tier response system that assigns minor cases to teachers, refers more serious incidents to so-called learner formation officers and elevates severe cases to school heads, parents and, when necessary, law enforcement agencies. Nearly a year after the revised IRR took effect, EDCOM 2 said many schools have yet to designate learner formation officers or localize their anti-bullying policies. “The incidents we have seen in the past week underscore the importance of fully implementing the updated IRR of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013,” EDCOM 2 executive director Karol Mark Yee said. “Every school needs a learner formation officer in place, its localized anti-bullying policy promulgated, and referral systems in place to help our students. We cannot afford another school year where systems exist on paper, but not in practice,” Yee added. The commission also reiterated that safe schools are essential to improving learning outcomes, citing studies showing that students exposed to bullying tend to have lower trust in their schools and weaker psychological well-being. Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, a member of EDCOM 2, said bullying and violence are more common in overcrowded schools. “We have observed that highly congested schools tend to record more incidents of violence. When a school becomes a hotspot because of overcrowding, safety incidents also increase. That is why it is important to deploy school counselor associates,” Gatchalian said. EDCOM 2 recommended that DepEd expand technical assistance to schools that have yet to adopt localized anti-bullying policies, ensure an adequate number of learner formation officers and accelerate the hiring of school counselor associates and guidance counselors. Gatchalian called for the immediate hiring of 10,000 school counselor associates, noting that the 2026 national budget earmarked P2 billion for the program.