Everyone knows that school can get catty, but that does not mean instances of bullying should be swept under the rug. That’s what Sacred Heart College (SHC) in Lucena City, Quezon province, learned when a video showing one of their students bullying a classmate went viral last week.
In the video, a student can be seen shouting at her classmate before slapping her three times as other students watched.
“Motherfucker, that one’s for me,” the bully said in Filipino after the first slap. “That’s for us friends,” she continued before her second slap, pointing at members of her clique standing behind the camera after. “That’s for your stupidity,” the bully said before the last slap. The victim just remained seated and did not say a word.
According to a report by ABS-CBN News, the fight started after the bully found out that her boyfriend was growing close to the victim.
“Her ex-boyfriend just always asks me for help in planning their monthly anniversaries,” the victim said.
According to a statement from the school’s President Sr. Josephina R. Quiachon posted on the SHC Facebook page on Thursday, the incident happened a year ago and that it was “amicably settled through dialogue.”
https://www.facebook.com/SHC.IBED/photos/a.1600933250156298.1073741829.1551218991794391/1963904623859157/?type=3&theater
However, the school is reopening the case because the victim’s guardians filed a new complaint following the video going viral.
“What I want to happen is for them to be accountable, for them to be punished. You can see on the video how they hurt and laughed and my grandchild,” the grandmother said in Filipino, remaining anonymous.
The victim lives with her grandmother because her mother is an overseas Filipino worker.
The grandmother said that they were notified of the incident when it happened but did not know how serious the situation was until the video was made public last week.
The victim’s mother also shared her thoughts on the issue through several posts on Facebook. On Thursday, she said in Filipino: “I am not going to accept that my daughter only gets a sorry in exchange for what they did. I will fight against what you did to my daughter, no matter what it takes. I am calling out to the heads of Sacred Heart College Lucena to please take action against the bullying that was done to my daughter so that this won’t happen to others again.”
The school has also been criticized online for not handling the situation earlier. Some netizens even posted one-star reviews on the school’s Facebook page.
But some alumni came to their school’s defense.
In their statement, SHC said that they are not tolerating the bullying.
“We would like to assure the academic community of Sacred Heart College and the general public that bullying is unacceptable behavior and runs counter to the values, ideals and moral standards of the school, our foundress, Hermana Fausta, and our patron saints, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise of Marillac.
The video has been viewed thousands of times and has been reuploaded several times on Facebook and YouTube.
