Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 13) — A reported “culture of abuse” at the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) will be investigated at the Senate, in line with earlier moves by the Education Department and the state-run school itself south of Metro Manila to conduct separate probes.
The office of Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday the lawmaker filed a resolution to look into the sexual, emotional, and verbal allegations against teachers and students of the boarding school.
The moves to investigate were in a response to a VICE World News published investigative report on the accusations of alumni and students of the school on Mount Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna.
Hontiveros said she wants to determine possible violations of the Safe Spaces Act and other child protection policies. Her office also said it already met with some of those who claimed they were victims.
“It is imperative that the Senate, exercising its oversight powers, initiate a thorough but expeditious investigation on the matter to ensure that PHSA and other educational institutions are safe spaces, especially with the upcoming blended/face-to face-classes in August,” read the resolution.
Quoting a “well-placed source,” the report stated that the PHSA administration downplayed and ignored a number of claims. The school issued a statement saying it sympathized with affected alumni, but also calling as “unfair” the “sweeping generalization” that the school is a haven of abuse.
The PHSA is at the National Arts Center built in 1976 during the administration of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
