A lawmaker in the Philippines proposed a bill that would enact a criminal punishment for ghosting.
Ghosting is the modern phenomenon of abruptly severing all communications with another person without notice, usually within a romantic relationship. As anyone who has been ghosted will say, it can be quite a hurtful experience.
Arnolfo Teves Jr, a member of the country’s House of Representatives, particularly seems to believe so, as he recently proposed a law that would seek to punish those who ghost others, according to One News Philippines.
Have you been “ghosted” by someone?
Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, Jr. filed a bill declaring “ghosting” as an “emotional offense.” He says “ghosting” is when someone cuts off communication with friends, partners, and alike without real closure. pic.twitter.com/Vv56IQJbMg
— ONE News PH (@onenewsph) July 26, 2022
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“Ghosting is a form of spite that develops feelings of rejection and neglect. Ghosting has adverse effects on the mental state of the one being ghosted and his or her emotional state is still adversely affected as he or she will be constantly thinking of the welfare or the unexplained reasons of the one who ghosted. The ambiguity with ghosting, is that there is no real closure between the parties concerned and as such, it can be likened to a form of emotional cruelty and should be punished as an emotional offense because of the trauma it causes to the ‘ghosted’ party,” the act states.
The bill is titled “An act declaring ghosting as an emotional offense.” Although it demands punishment for ghosting, nowhere in the bill does it suggest what the punishment should be.
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The legislation is unlikely to pass, according to the Washington Post. Proposals that are not a priority are usually forgotten in the country’s Congress.
Filipino netizens took to social media to mock the proposal, most arguing that it was trying to take away attention from more urgent issues, such as the country’s soaring inflation.
