Press Release
October 18, 2016

Transcript of Sen. Bam's media interview after sex, drugs and trolls education hearing

Q: What was the impetus for you in drafting this resolution?

Sen. Bam: Well, today we talked about three things that we want to see in our schools. Unang-una, iyong sex education, iyong drug prevention education, and itong responsible social media use.

Natuwa naman kami na na-explain ng DepEd na kasama na ito sa curriculum in varying degrees. But with regard to responsible social media use, we've seen so much trolling, cyber-bullying, a lot of hate speech also. It's a worldwide problem. Hindi lang problema sa Pilipinas.

But iyon iyong isang napag-usapan ng DepEd is that they are actually trying to address it through the curriculum. Mayroong mga araw na responsible social media ang pinag-uusapan o media literacy.

And we're hoping we can have an even stronger effort also.

Q: Are you able to to determine that some of the comments are coming from students?

Sen. Bam: Halu-halo, eh. Kung saan nanggagaling, halu-halo pero ang mahalaga diyan kung saan papunta. To our young people, and we find na whether you're a public figure or you're just a regular person with a comment, sometimes na-a-attack ka na rin.

We want to make sure na may safe zones tayo pag nagkokomento tayo.

Now the psychologists in the panel said that there's really an effect. Pag nato-troll ka or kapag talagang nilalambast ka o binubully ka, may epekto talaga iyon sa psyche ng isang kabataan or ng isang tao.

And we want to make sure na hindi na ito mangyayari ulit.

So DepEd agreed alongside IMMAP and other media agencies here, as well as the other resource persons to really focus on trying to promote responsible social media use: matigil ang cyber-bullying at matigil ang trolling.

Q: Are we looking at passing laws?

Sen. Bam: Hindi pa siguro. I think at this point the idea is just to band together and really try to promote more responsible social media use, headed by DepEd.

So this is the plan so far. And eventually, kung magiging batas ito o hindi, kailangan pa sigurong pag-usapan.

But right now, the concern is there. Na-recognize na may problema at na-recognize rin na ang solusyon dito hindi lang magagawa ng isang grupo o ahensiya. Kailangan magtulong-tulong talaga ang iba't ibang sektor para masolusyonan ito.

Q: In concrete terms, ano ang output nito? Is it an inter-agency program?

Sen. Bam: For the sex education, there's a review that the DepEd is doing right now. So hinihikayat natin ang iba't-ibang grupo na magbigay ng komento.

For the drug prevention aspect there will be random drug testing sa mga eskwelahan, which will determine kung gaano ka-prevalent ang drugs sa ating mga public schools.

And with regard to the social media use, magtutulong-tulong ang iba't-ibang grupo dito to come up with a stronger program to promote it.

Q: Sa mandatory random drug testing, wala bang objections or complaints?

Sen. Bam: Well, so far there are no objections. Nasa batas naman ito. Ang mahalaga lang na ini-stress ng DDB, PDEA and even of DepEd is that all the results should be confidential.

Hindi puwedeng gamitin kung may nag-positive, hindi puwedeng gamitin iyan para pahiyain ang isang bata o paalisin sa eskwelahan. There's a lot of confidentiality involved.

Iyong purpose niya is really more for policy para malaman kung gaano ito kabigat sa ating mga eskwelahan. Hindi para i-single-out ang mga batang positibo doon sa drug test.

So that was very, very clear in our discussion that even though we're supporting the mandatory drug testing, hindi dapat ito gamitin for a shame campaign. Instead, tulungan iyong bata na makalampas dito through a rehab program or even through peer counseling.

Q: So may intervention?

Sen. Bam: Definitely, hindi naman puwedeng pag nalaman mong positibo wala kang gagawin.

But at the same time, iyong gagawin mo kailangan akma doon sa bata so hindi dapat pahiyain. Hindi dapat ibalandra sa eskwelahan o i-kick-out.

Kailangan siyang tulungan para makalampas sa kaniyang problema. Maybe mag-rehab siya o pasukan ng mga drug intervention programs.

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