Jason could not forget how his high school teacher made him feel awkward every time he attended his MAPEH (Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health) class at the Bacoor National High School (BNHS) in Cavite. The subject matter of the class was Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health. He was aware that something was going really wrong. He had the impression that he was treated poorly. However, he did not speak up since, according to him, he had the impression that he lacked power at that time.
Even though the claimed sexual abuse took place in 2018, Jason was still able to recall every detail of those incidents. On Wednesday, August 31, he participated in a Zoom interview with Rappler and related his experiences from that day. He was one of the people who came forward recently claiming to be victims of sexual abuse by teachers at BNHS, and he was one of those people.
According to Jason, the teacher made a number of them, all of whom were male, watch sexually explicit videos during one of their classes. They were aware at the time that it was unacceptable for a teacher to act in such a manner, but they felt powerless to stop it.
“He made us watch gay porn videos. My classmates knew it was wrong for a teacher to behave that way. But we couldn’t do anything.”
This same teacher also made unwanted physical contact with Jason and the other male students in the class. However, during that specific incident, he was uncertain whether or not the situation constituted sexual abuse because the instructor was not touching any of his private body parts. He was certain of one thing, and that was the fact that it made him uneasy.
This was also Mark’s experience with the same instructor when he took the class. According to him, the allegedly abusive teacher nicknamed all of the male students in his class, including Jason, “baby,” including himself.
In an interview that took place on Thursday, September 2, with Rappler, the executive director of the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (CPTCSA), Zeny Rosales, stated that it is essential to put into context what sexual abuse is and what constitutes such.
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Rosales stated that the false belief that young women are more vulnerable to sexual assault simply due to the fact that they are female is contributing to the problem. Because of this, boy victims are less likely to come forward anytime they experience such a thing.
We are concentrating our efforts only on the safety of young women. On the other hand, guys can also be victims. This is unfortunate. In her own language, she said, “This is the reason why boys are becoming unprotected against sexual violence and exploitation.”
Both Jason and Mark reported that at first they were unsure whether or not their instructor was engaging in sexual misconduct with them. They were aware of the inappropriate behavior that their teacher was engaging in, but it appeared to be accepted within their institution.
Rosales believes that sexual abuse occurs when a person is made to feel uncomfortable in a setting where the abuser does anything to him, regardless of whether or not the abuser actually touches private portions of the victim’s body.
There were others present besides Jason and Mark. Miguel Damasco, a former student at BNHS, is an alumnus of the school. On August 28, he communicated the alleged sexual assault experiences of some students with at least four teachers listed in the thread through a Twitter thread. The discussion was initially started on Facebook, but it was removed after being reported for allegedly breaking community standards.
Damasco informed Rappler via text message on Sunday, September 4 that more than 20 students had come out with their stories of alleged sexual abuses perpetrated by professors of BNHS. Damasco made this statement on the same day.
What’s DepEd doing?
The Department of Education (DepEd) has stated that it is conducting an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse that took place at BNHS. On Thursday, September 1, 2018, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa announced that the agency was conducting an investigation against seven teachers. The teachers have been assigned the status of floating, and they have not been given any teaching loads.
Poa further encouraged the victims to come forward and file affidavits of complaint in their respective cases. “Although our investigation is still underway, the problem is that we do not have enough affidavits from complainants. As a result, we are asking for your assistance in encouraging the alleged victims to file their affidavits so that we would have sufficient evidence for the cases, if there are any,” he said.
Teddy Gloriani, the principal of BNHS, issued a supplementary statement in which he confirmed that the teachers did not have any assigned teaching loads. He also stated that the school had already begun an investigation into the incidents.
“The school immediately made an action regarding the issues of teachers about the alleged sex abuse posted by a netizen,” Gloriani said in a text message sent to Rappler on Monday, August 29. “The school immediately made an action regarding the issues of teachers about the alleged sex abuse posted by a netizen.”
A quick check on Facebook revealed that the accounts of four recognized professors who were mentioned in the thread that went viral on Twitter have been removed.
Rappler is hiding the names of the educators involved until we hear back from them and receive their views. Rappler is omitting the names of the juveniles, as well as any screenshots that either directly or indirectly disclose who they are, in order to respect their right to personal privacy.
