PNP: Sharing of nude photos act of cyber bullying

June 2, 2019

The Philippine National Police on Sunday reminded students that sharing inappropriate photos of their schoolmates or classmates is an act of cyber bullying.

“This is strictly against our law. If anyone becomes a victim of this kind of act, immediately report to the authorities so that we can immediately investigate (the incident) and whoever is behind it will face the law," Police Colonel Bernard Banac, PNP spokerperson, said in a radio interview.

“It’s a pity that teenagers have become victims of this kind of activities,” he added.

Last month, it was reported that some high school and college students were sharing nude photos of their female classmates online.

The PNP has vowed to be more “aggressive” and “intelligence-driven” in addressing cyber bullying after it recorded 22 incidents from the previous school years.

In a data provided by PNP, it recorded one cyber bullying incident before the closing of classes last March, while 12 cases in 2018 and nine incidents in 2017.

All the 13 incidents happened in National Capital Region and Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Rizal-Quezon) Region.

Banac said cyber bullying is the common form of bullying for minors and it usually happens on social media sites.

“The PNP will be aggressive and intelligence-driven on our focused police operations,” Banac said in an earlier press briefing.

Aside from online bullying, the PNP said it would also address physical bullying, which could affect the mental and emotional welfare of the students.

“The school authorities must first act on it and the police will only enter the school if requested by them. So bullying inside the school will be handled by the school authorities and the PNP and barangay officials will handle incidents outside,” said Banac.

The PNP has formed task units to address bullying in schools. Ella Dionisio/DMS