MANILA, Philippines — Rather than seeing their son as a "poster child for a bullied boy," the public should view the victim as a "young man of good moral foundation," the parents of an Ateneo Junior High School student said.
Over the past week, a video of an Ateneo student bullying another student inside one of the comfort rooms of the Katipunan-based high school made the rounds on social media, sparking outrage from netizens.
The parents of the bullying victim have broken their silence after remaining quiet for the sake of the their minor son. In a statement, the parents pointed out that their son did not fight back in a bid to uphold his principles.
"We want you to see that he is not a loser and that he does not deserve to be pitied; rather, he should be exalted for his sense of dignity and justice beyond his years," the parents said in a statement as reported by GMA News Online.
The victim was asked by the bully to choose between his dignity or being beaten up. Choosing dignity would be the more degrading option as the bully intended to have the victim kneel and kiss his shoes and private parts, as heard in the two-minute viral video.
The parents of the victim noted that their son chose to suffer physical assault rather than surrender his self-respect.
"We would rather that the public does not know his name, as our son does not deserve to be memorialized as the 'bullied boy from Ateneo.' He is much more than the poor and hapless boy you see in that two-minute video, which is now etched in the public's mind," the statement read.
The family also expressed their gratitude to those who have show support for their son, as well as the doctors who tended the to the injuries of the junior high school student.
"Let every bully know that you may crush every single bone in his body, but you can never, no matter how frustrating you try, take away his dignity. Let every bully know that there is justice, and that crimes against the innocent will not prosper," they said.
On Sunday, Ateneo de Manila University announced that the bully in the viral video has been dismissed from the junior high school. Under the school's handbook, fighting and physical assault are violations that could lead to expulsion.
The Philippine Taekwondo Association has also decided to indefinitely ban the bully, who is a practitioner of taekwondo. The association suggested that the student undergo supervised counseling and rehabilitation.