AS I was contemplating on the subject I was to write for my column today — the death of the two collegiate players due to the coach’s obsession with winning a title, or the press conference held yesterday by a group of religious leaders calling themselves the Kingdom Keepers wherein they vowed to challenge head-on the position of an “influential” religious sect regarding lawmakers and government officials linked to the anomalous flood control projects — I ran across a social media post in which the parent of a bullied youth offered a P20,000 reward for whoever could give information on the suspect who allegedly hit her son for no apparent reason.

Having written an article about the bullying case filed by the couple Alfred and Yasmine Vargas against actor Rob Sy and his partner, Juvelle Bacosa, early this week, a thought suddenly flashed into my head — what if all parents of bullied children resort to this kind of action?

This reflects the frustration of the parents on how bullying cases are treated here in the Philippines. Remember the case of the student bully from that school which is now again in hot water following the death of two of its athletes in a school-sanctioned team-building exercise? According to sources, that bullying kid has long been victimizing some of his classmates but no action was being done until it was exposed in the social media.

Let’s go back to the bullying case filed by the Vargases. Contrary to the claim of Sy that the complaint was merely based on speculation, based on the original complaint, the Vargas couple insists they actually witnessed firsthand the bullying of their son, along with other parents who, they say, also witnessed the act.

In fact, the Vargases claim, Sy’s son bullied their child by way of drowning, and repeated it several times despite efforts, reminders and appeals made by the Vargases to the parents of the bully to tell their child to stop and to manage the minor’s conduct.

Unfortunately, the couple said that every time they went to the parents to try to resolve these issues, they “were either dismissed or gaslighted.”

Unfortunately, the Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila dismissed the case using a very much different premise — Republic Act (RA) 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, a law specifically designed to address bullying in schools and educational institutions.

But the Vargases, aware that the bullying act committed against their son took place outside an educational institution, precisely filed the case against Sy and Bacosa for violation of Section 10(a) of RA 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

With the case having been dismissed, Sy is now claiming it’s now his child who was the real victim. Victim of what? The bashing they’ve been receiving?

While I empathize with them, we also have to understand the feelings of the parents who have been following the case, some of whom were also present when the alleged bullying act was committed as the Vargases claim.

Parents’ love for their children is immeasurable, and whenever a parent witnesses a kid being bullied, whoever his or her parents is, would surely feel for that particular parent. And unless they perceive the bullying case filed by Vargases being resolved righteously, based on the proper grounds, I believe the bashing will not cease.

Again, I can only empathize with the parent of the kid who was hit for no apparent reason by another bully and who is now offering a P20,000 reward. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do. But obviously, she’s frustrated. That’s why we need to address the issue of bullying seriously.

We don’t need another Charles Bronson-type of justice being executed at this time. We don’t want to see a rise in bounty hunters and vigilantes. We just want to see justice enforced strictly, especially in cases like these.

Bullying is bullying, nothing less.