MANILA, Philippines — The lack of government-collected data on bullying incidents specific to children with special needs, the top victim of bullying in schools worldwide, limits the ability of the government to respond with concrete measures, according to a president of the Autism Society Philippines.
ASP national president Mona Magno-Veluz told Philstar.com on Wednesday that the "lack of basic disability statistics in bullying, education as well as employment" and other issues affecting persons with disabilities (PWD) "limits the government’s ability to develop responsive programs."
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ASP is a national organization advocating for the welfare of persons with autism.
Figures presented by the Department of Education (DepEd) during a Senate hearing on Tuesday did not include disaggregated data for students with disabilities, obscuring the extent to which an already marginalized group of students experience harassment and discrimination in schools.
Data presented by DepEd Assistant Secretary Dexter Galban at a hearing by the Senate basic education committee showed that bullying incidents have increased almost every year since 2014 despite the passage of the Anti-Bullying Act in the latter half of 2013.
In particular, SY 2018-2019 tallied 21,500 incidents – the highest in a single school year since 2014. Cases dropped to 11,000 in SY 2019-2020 after the pandemic disrupted the last quarter of the school year, according to Galban.
However, the true number of bullying incidents could be much higher as Galban said that DepEd has observed a "notable difficulty in being able to monitor the number of bullying cases" due to a lack of registered guidance counselors in schools.
Galban has yet to respond to Philstar.com’s request for information on the number of bullying incidents among students with disabilities as of press time.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the committee chairperson, also pointed out potential underreporting of bullying cases as the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2018 estimated that around 40% of Filipino children aged 13 to 17 experienced some form of bullying.
"If you talk about converting that to the student population, you're talking about 10 million to 12 million students (bullied) as supposed to 11,000," Gatchalian estimated.
In response to the increasing number of harassment in schools, DepEd established the Learners' Rights and Protection Office and launched the Learners Rights TeleSafe Contact Centers in November.
Children with special needs more likely to be bullied
Children with disabilities are two to four times more likely to be bullied at school than their non-disabled peers, according to a 2021 UNESCO report that studied school violence in different countries.
A DepEd order in 2021 also pinpointed learners with disabilities as "being more vulnerable to bullying, child abuse and other forms of violence against children."
"Bullying is a regular part of the life of student on the autism spectrum. Many deal with it; but others are enough to warrant changes in where they study," Magno-Veluz said.
Rampant bullying experienced by children with special needs from their peers has forced some parents to consider homeschooling or the Alternative Learning System for their children, Magno-Velus added.
"Some stop (school) altogether and stay home," Magno-Velus said.
According to the ASP president, while the law mandates the barangay and DepEd to "keep tabs" on bullied children, "their numbers are not specific to PWDs."
DepEd’s Basic Education Development Plan 2030, the agency’s roadmap for education programs, cited a study that showed among marginalized children, "(children) with disabilities appear the most in need of support" as "very few of the children reported to be in any form of professional therapy."
Magno-Veluz said that aside from legislation, "implementation of the existing laws should be improved" to protect children with disabilities from bullying.
"Family education and support to children and families from the (Council on the Welfare of Children) and the (Commission on Human Rights) would be helpful," she added.
In DepEd’s first Basic Education Report, Vice President Sara Duterte — who is also secretary of the education department — vowed to strengthen child protection policies and provide a safe learning environment for marginalized children, including those with disabilities.