Harassment in the workplace

Is there an anti-harassment in the workplace in the Philippines? Some 2 weeks ago our admin officer/office manager approached me to call attention to my heavy sighing (buntong-hininga) as disruptive to work environment; in her words: "napansin kong nakalampas kang 20 na pagbu-buntong hininga kahapon, wag ganoon, bad vibes, di makatrabaho ang mga tao." I explained that I didn't understand what she meant and i was deep in work and if I did sigh it was a sigh of relief from the amount of work I have been accomoplishing. She insisted that i ask my colleagues, and I did after this short conversation and no one could validate her claims. I let it go temporarily because I literally did not have time to attend to this. Three days ago, i sent a letter of clarification to our HR to seek guidance on whether what our admin officer insists as disruptive qualifies as "disorderly conduct or misbehavior" as indicated in our employee manual. She replied that what is considered as disruptive behavior and misconduct in the workplace is disorderly conduct or misbehavior is "any act that would disturb the peace or work environment." So i responded to reiterate my question, adding that if the admin officer had no line authority over me does that give her authority to call my attention. She responded that since the said personnel "have HR tasks" it is well within her role. I did look at her terms of reference, and none of these say that she functions say that she fulfills HR functions in our unit nor has there been any written notice circulated to employees to that effect. I am scheduled to meet with company's HR on Monday but I would like to ask if there is any other action I could pursue?

thelovegangster wrote:Is there an anti-harassment in the workplace in the Philippines? Some 2 weeks ago our admin officer/office manager approached me to call attention to my heavy sighing (buntong-hininga) as disruptive to work environment; in her words: "napansin kong nakalampas kang 20 na pagbu-buntong hininga kahapon, wag ganoon, bad vibes, di makatrabaho ang mga tao." I explained that I didn't understand what she meant and i was deep in work and if I did sigh it was a sigh of relief from the amount of work I have been accomoplishing. She insisted that i ask my colleagues, and I did after this short conversation and no one could validate her claims. I let it go temporarily because I literally did not have time to attend to this. Three days ago, i sent a letter of clarification to our HR to seek guidance on whether what our admin officer insists as disruptive qualifies as "disorderly conduct or misbehavior" as indicated in our employee manual. She  replied that what is considered as disruptive behavior and misconduct in the workplace is disorderly conduct or misbehavior is "any act that would disturb the peace or work environment." So i responded to reiterate my question, adding that if the admin officer had no line authority over me does that give her authority to call my attention. She responded that since the said personnel "have HR tasks" it is well within her role. I did look at her terms of reference, and none of these say that she functions say that she fulfills HR functions in our unit nor has there been any written notice circulated to employees to that effect. I am scheduled to meet with company's HR on Monday but I would like to ask if there is any other action I could pursue?

The term 'admin officer/admin functions have HR-related fucntions. As such, it is within her job description to say something albeit somewhat childish.

You term this as 'harassment in the workplace". Please, where is the harassment here?

What action can you pursue? Is there a legal wrong in the remarks? is there 'damage' on your end? Childish things should be ignored.