DepEd exec whose gun was used in S. Cotabato campus shooting relieved

The father of the teenager identified as the attacker in the Sept. 18 campus shooting in South Cotabato has been relieved of his post in the Department of Education (DepEd), agency officials said on Tuesday.

Davao de Oro Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora gave the update during the House plenary discussion on DepEd’s proposed budget, after Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña asked her about the agency’s response to the shooting at Banga National High School in Banga, South Cotabato.

“It appears from the investigation so far that the gun used was owned by the student’s father—reportedly a Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Officer of DepEd Region XII,” Cendaña said. “What are the administrative and legal liabilities that DepEd will impose on its officers who fail to properly store their firearms?”

Zamora, sponsor of DepEd’s budget, replied “the parent was already relieved from his post as DRRM of the department.”

Cendaña then asked if the department allowed its “staff and officials” to own firearms and what its policies were in that regard.

Zamora said “there is no internal policy within the department. But the department subjects it to the discretion of every employee, every personnel of DepEd to adhere with the existing laws on proper handling of firearms.”

“With the recent violence involving guns in our schools, it seems timely and urgent that DepEd [introduce] an internal policy and administrative circular on responsible gun ownership … even stricter gun ownership policies,” Cendaña said.

Female village watchers

Meanwhile, the government is considering the deployment of female village watchers in schools to monitor activities there.

“These could be barangay tanods, particularly women, who could monitor or serve as a visible patrol presence in schools,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said in a briefing on Tuesday.

Castro pointed out that DepEd and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have already proposed hiring additional security personnel, adding that the two agencies may sign a memorandum of agreement by next week.

Marcos ‘disturbed’

She said President Marcos found the Banga incident “very disturbing.”

“It is not normal for a young person to brandish a firearm and shoot indiscriminately,” she said, quoting Mr. Marcos.

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Malacañang also refuted Vice President Sara Duterte’s remarks blaming the President for failing to protect schoolchildren.

Duterte said the government has been “trapped in an endless game of political survival and consolidation” instead of enforcing order.

“It is not true that the government is doing nothing,” Castro said, adding that the situation was complex, particularly amid concerns over the alleged influence of online and gaming content on young people.

She said parents and teachers could not follow the private online groups and conversations of their children and students.

Parents need to develop stronger relationships with their children, while teachers and other school personnel should be trained to recognize warning signs, she said.