SENATOR Risa Hontiveros is proposing to expand the coverage of Republic Act 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013.

In Senate Bill 1582, Hontiveros highlighted that the Philippines has been recognized as the bullying capital of the world. According to the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment, 76 percent of Filipino students have experienced bullying, and 36 percent belong to the top 10 percent of the most bullied students globally.

The senator mentioned in her explanatory note the report of the Philippine National Police stating that there are 2,000 suicide cases from January to July 2025, some of them were linked to bullying and cyberbullying.

“Evidently, the Philippines is experiencing a bullying epidemic that the state must not ignore,” Hontiveros said.

The proposed measure seeks to expand the definition of bullying to include school employee-student bullying.

It also mandates the adoption of anti-bullying policies across higher education and technical-vocational institutions.

The bill also seeks to establish a complaint mechanism with the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for students, parents, or guardians to voice their grievances if educational institutions fail to fulfill the requirements of the law.