Baguio Bullying Incident: Victim's Family, Minors' Families Reach Amicable Settlement

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The family of a student involved in a reported bullying incident in Barangay Pinget has reached an amicable settlement with the families of the other involved minors, one week after the incident. The settlement was reached Friday, Sept. 4, following a series of discussions between the two sides in the presence of barangay officials. Under the agreement, the family of minors involved will share P800,000 in fines, with the amount divided based on their respective participation in the incident. The agreement also requires the minors to issue a public apology before the student’s family, barangay officials and police officers. In their apologies, the minors acknowledged that what they did was wrong and asked forgiveness from the student, his family and the elders who helped resolve the matter. They also promised not to repeat the incident and said they would report similar incidents in the future instead of participating in them. The student’s mother appealed to the public to respect the family’s decision to settle the matter. She said she consulted her child, who experienced trauma following the incident, before deciding whether to pursue a case. Her child, she said, chose to continue with their studies and forgive those involved, while she also considered the minors’ futures. According to the mother, she hoped the minors would learn from the incident and that the settlement would allow everyone involved to move forward. The student, meanwhile, said he had forgiven those involved and hoped that a similar incident would not happen again, either to him or to other students at Pinget. The victim’s family also appealed to the public to stop circulating the incident on social media and to respect their decision to settle the matter. They expressed hope that all conditions of the agreement would be fulfilled. The incident earlier drew public attention after a video involving the students circulated on social media. Pinget National High School had appealed to the public to stop sharing, reposting or further circulating the video because minors were involved. The school said continued circulation could expose the children to public shaming, online harassment, cyberthreats and further trauma. —MAUREEN MATAYEW/CONTRIBUTOR