SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has once again raised concerns over the alarming prevalence of bullying in the country, citing data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that labels the Philippines as the “bullying capital of the world.”

“In the last PISA assessment, the Philippines ranked the highest in terms of bullying cases among more than 70 participating countries,” Gatchalian revealed.

“This is a serious issue, and one of the biggest problems we found is the severe lack of guidance counselors in schools. Out of our 47,000 schools, fewer than 10% have guidance counselors,” he explained.

To address this, Gatchalian highlighted the recently enacted Basic Education Mental Health Law, which allows psychologists and psychometricians to take on guidance counseling roles in schools, bridging the gap in mental health support.

According to Gatchalian, bullying is closely linked to the country’s ongoing learning crisis.

“The PISA study showed that students who are bullied are more likely to drop out, suffer from low self-esteem, and perform poorly in school,” he explained. “At the same time, studies indicate that bullies themselves often have underlying mental health issues, come from abusive homes, or have experienced bullying themselves.”

Gatchalian emphasized the need for a two-pronged approach—strengthening mental health and anti-bullying programs in schools while ensuring that parents take responsibility for their children’s behavior and discipline at home.