04 December 2013

Bullied Malabon Boy Has Died

Bullying
The nine-year-old boy who we featured in this blog awhile back as a victim of bullying in the hands of classmates has died.

A report from ABS-CBNNews.com said that Fred Aston Mendoza fought for his life for almost a month at the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) before succumbing to his injuries. He suffered internal bleeding in his liver which resulted in serious complications.

Fred is a Grade 4 pupil from TaƱong Unit 1 Elementary School in Malabon. When he went home from school last 18 October he was covered with bruises. According to her mother, Vilma Santos Mendoza, two students allegedly ran after Fred, undress him and beat him up.

"Hinabol daw siya, tapos hinubaran, yun yung pagkakwento po niya. Tapos pinagsusuntok na siya sa tiyan, sinipa," Vilma said in an earlier interview.

On that same night, Fred had high fever and was immediately rushed to the hospital. He spent 21 days inside the intensive care unit (ICU) before finally succumbing to his wounds.

"Nagkaroon na ng komplikasyon...iyung baga, utak at puso may komplikasyon," Vilma said.

Fred's family is appealing for help as they are facing problems settling the child's hospital bill which has already reached an estimated PhP 700,000.

Aside from their apparent incompetence to handle the provisions of Republic Act 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, it is not clear what the school officials are going to do with this incident aside from calling the parents of the two children involved. Are there any appropriate measures imposed on the bullies who were later identified as a 9-yearl old and 11-year old?

It has been recognized already that bullying has a negative effect on the social environment of schools, creates a climate of fear among students, inhibits the ability to learn, and leads to other antisocial behavior. Other detrimental effects of bullying include impact on school safety, student engagement, and the overall school environment.

Meanwhile Fred's relatives are determined to pursue a case against those responsible for the boy's death.

We cannot bring back Fred Aston Mendoza from the dead, but we can do something about making sure it never happens again and that those who contributed to this abusive behavior are held accountable and punished severely.