DepEd chief: ‘We are really not prepared for these shootings’
“We were just used to focusing on the academic performance of the children.”
With this candid observation, Education Secretary Sonny Angara has proposed the creation of an interagency task force to assess gaps in school security and address mental health concerns among students, following the latest shooting at a public high school in South Cotabato that left at least three students dead and eight others injured.
The task force would bring together the Department of Education (DepEd), Philippine National Police, and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to review how schools secure their premises and respond to threats, including gaps in physical access control, threat reporting, emergency response and coordination with local law enforcement.
DepEd said in a statement on Saturday that the proposed review would help establish an operational framework that schools could use in responding to crises.
“We really need to beef up security measures because we are really not prepared for these shootings,” Angara said, as quoted in the statement, after inspecting Banga National High School, where a Grade 9 student allegedly opened fire on fellow students inside a classroom.
He also visited an injured learner who was taken to a hospital in Koronadal City.
The shooting on Friday afternoon was the third deadly school shooting in the country in three months, following incidents in Tacloban on June 22 and at Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School in Zamboanga City on Aug. 18. The Zamboanga shooting also left three students dead, including the student identified as the gunman.
How did gun get in?
The latest incident has prompted renewed calls for stronger campus security, tighter controls on access to firearms, expanded mental health services and a more comprehensive system for identifying and responding to threats before violence occurs.
DepEd also introduced the conduct of “active shooter” drills on campuses.
President Marcos ordered a thorough investigation, particularly into how a minor obtained a firearm and managed to bring it inside the school.
At least three students were killed, one of them believed to be the shooter, who reportedly turned the gun on himself. Eight students were injured, according to the information provided by the government.
“We cannot accept school shootings becoming a normal part of our children’s lives,” Marcos said in Filipino.
He said he had ordered DepEd, DILG and PNP to report on the measures they had taken after the previous school shootings and said additional steps would be announced to address remaining security gaps.
“It is our children’s right to study without fear,” Marcos said, stressing that parents should be able to send their children to school knowing that they would return home safely.
Angara said DepEd was particularly awaiting the findings on how the firearm entered the school and how the student gained access to it.
The suspected shooter was purportedly the son of a DepEd employee, but Angara deferred questions about the firearm and its ownership to the PNP, which is conducting the criminal investigation.
Mental health gaps
He also said DepEd would seek the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology in examining reports about the alleged influence of an online community promoting violence on the student.
Angara said a letter reportedly recovered from the student could provide investigators with clues, although he cautioned that he could not confirm the information.
For now, he said, DepEd’s priority was the welfare of the survivors, their families and the broader school community, including preparations for a safe return to face-to-face classes after the traumatic incident.
The proposed security review is also expected to examine the availability of mental health support in public schools, where DepEd continues to face a shortage of guidance counselors.
Call for more counselors
Angara said the department was hiring more guidance counselors and that the shortage was part of the gaps that needed to be assessed with the PNP and DILG.
“Without funding for such situations, DepEd does not have the capacity and resources to immediately respond,” he said.
DepEd said immediate intervention teams had already been deployed to provide psychological first aid and mental health support to affected learners, their families and school personnel.
The department also urged the public not to circulate unverified claims or graphic material about the shooting, warning that such content could compound the trauma experienced by those affected.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, however, said the shooting highlighted the continuing shortage of guidance counselors and psychosocial support in public schools.
ACT chair Ruby Bernardo estimated that there was only one counselor for every 2,600 students nationwide.
“Let us not blame teachers or video games for this tragedy just to cover up the government’s negligence. We are in dire need of guidance counselors and mental health and psychosocial programs, but where are they?” Bernardo said.
The group also questioned proposals that rely mainly on checkpoints and increased police presence in schools, saying these could treat students as security risks without addressing the underlying need for mental health and psychosocial services.
Bernardo said access to firearms owned by government employees should also be examined, citing what she described as a pattern that required investigation. —WITH REPORTS FROM ZACARIAN SARAO AND HOLLY BACAY
