Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution urging the Senate to investigate the reported culture of abuse, harassment and violence at the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA).
The resolution is directed at the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality which she is set to chair in the upcoming 19th Congress.
Hontiveros said it is imperative to look into the alleged gender-based sexual harassment, emotional abuse and other violence experienced by alumni and students of the said government-run boarding school, as well as to look into possible violations of the Safe Spaces Act.
“It is imperative that the Senate, exercising its oversight powers, initiate a thorough but expeditious investigation on the matter to ensure that PHSA and other educational institutions are safe spaces, especially with the upcoming blended/face-to face-classes in August,” said Hontiveros in her resolution.
Hontiveros, principal author of the Safe Spaces Act, earlier expressed her support for the victims who came forward and revealed their harrowing experiences.
Her office staff met with some of them and was informed that a PHSA student, a minor, has formally filed a complaint against a PHSA non-teaching staff after being catcalled in November 2019 in campus.
According to a report, there were already other complaints filed but these were “downplayed by the PHSA Administration, brushed off as hearsay” and were not entertained for failing to comply with the “format required under existing Civil Service rules.”
The survivors of abuse also claimed they were blamed, silenced, and neglected by the school's administrators.
Under the Safe Spaces Act, the senator stressed schools are required to provide a gender-sensitive environment and confidential mechanism for reporting and redress of grievances on matters of sexual and gender-based harassment.
“If the accounts are accurate, the repeated failure of PHSA administration to address the violence and abuses is a blatant violation of the Safe Spaces Act and a flagrant disregard of the interests of PHSA students -- interests they are duty bound to protect and promote as persons reposed with special parental authority,” the resolution stated.
The senator also said there is an “urgent need to review the reporting protocols and the procedures of the Committee on Decorum and Investigation of the educational institutions tasked to investigate and address complaints of abuse and harassment.”
The Senate inquiry also seeks to determine whatever lapses were committed and to propose corresponding reforms to improve implementation of the Safe Spaces Act and other child protection policies.
“Pangalawang tahanan ang turing sa mga paaralan kaya dapat ligtas at panatag tayong mga magulang kapag ipinagkakatiwala natin ang ating mga anak (Schools are considered second homes that is why it is important to maintain the safety and trust of the parents where they leave their children). Educational and training institutions should be our children’s safe spaces. Walang puwang dito ang mga mapang-abuso (Abuses have no place here),” Hontiveros said.