REPRESENTATIVE Jocelyn Tulfo of ACT-CIS Partylist with Rep. Ralph Wendel P. Tulfo of the 2nd District of Quezon City, filed House Bill No. 8446 or the Anti-Bullying in the Workplace Act.
According to Rep. Tulfo, institutions both in the government and in the private sectors often normalize and tolerate office bullying without regard to the victim’s mental health and possible emotional damage caused by the perpetrators, “Matagal ng issue itong bullying sa trabaho, hindi lang napapansin dahil iniisip ng iba okay lang yung ginagawa nila. In fact, yung mga bosses mismo wala silang pakeelam sa nararamdaman ng kaopisina nila sila pa ang nangunguna sa pambubully. They often disguise insults and harassment of their officemate in the form of “jokes” or “friendly banter” without being sensitive about the victim’s emotions.”
She added, “We have to protect our workers. We have to remember that part of our labor workforce’s welfare is their emotional and mental well-being. It’s never okay to bully someone regardless of the place, kahit sa eskwela pa yan o sa opisina.”
“I’m sure a lot of Filipinos have experienced office bullying at least once in their life, at there’s no other way to address their grievances. Office bullying should not be taken lightly, kasi most of them tumatahimik lang pero nagcacause na pala ng anxiety at depression yung pambubully na nararanasan nya sa opisina. I think everyone will agree with me that it’s not right. It’s unfair.”
