In the midst of rising prices of goods, food insecurity, and preparations for the Philippines’ long overdue return to full face-to-face classes, one congressman from the Visayas made it clear that his priorities were…rather different.

Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo Teves is declaring war against “ghosting,” and is using his legislative powers to send a message to people who leave their romantic prospects hanging.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story said that the anti-ghosting bill was initially referred to the transportation committee, and that the proposed measure seeking to mandate social media users to register their accounts using government-issued IDs was referred to the transportation panel. These have been corrected.

House Bill No. 611, also known as An Act Declaring Ghosting as an Emotional Offense, was filed by Teves on June 30, but was referred to the House health committee on Tuesday, July 26, according to the chamber’s daily order of business published on its website.

To be clear, the bill does not provide penalties, and only seeks to define ghosting, emotional abuse, and dating relationship as follows:

• Ghosting – a form of emotional abuse and happens once a person is engaged in a dating relationship with the opposite sex which affects the mental state of the victim.
• Emotional abuse – acts or omissions causing or likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim such as but not limited to ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal abuse, and mental infidelity, and could also be caused by “ghosting” for no apparent justifiable reason but solely to cause emotional distress to the victim.
• Dating relationship – refers to a situation wherein the parties live as husband and wife without the benefits of marriage or are romantically involved over time and on a continuing basis during the course of the relationship. A casual acquaintance or ordinary socialization between two individuals in a business or social context is not a dating relationship.

(Based on the definitions above, Teves does not care whether people in same-sex relationships “ghost” the ones they are dating.)

It is unclear in what world this measure will be useful, but it doesn’t seem to matter to Teves because he is so passionate about fighting for “ghosted” people.

“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,” Teves said in the explanatory note of his proposed legislation.

The bill is so absurd that Teves is now 2-for-3 on bills he filed that are gaining free publicity.

In early July, the media also found out that he filed a bill seeking to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport, falsely claiming that it was built during the latter’s term as president.

But that’s just not true. Rappler’s fact check showed that NAIA’s construction began during the Roxas administration in 1947. The airport became operational under the Quirino administration in 1953, or 12 years before Marcos became president in 1965.

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Teves’ bill was referred to the transportation committee on Tuesday, while another proposed measure by Teves, which seeks to mandate social media users to register their accounts using government-issued IDs, was forwarded to the public information panel.

Teves is now on his last term in office, coming out alive of the 2022 polls after a tight congressional race with a navy officer.

Will his constituents who voted for him soon be haunted by their decisions? Was Teves in high spirits when he filed his proposed anti-“ghosting” measure? What other bills of his will spook us next? – Rappler.com