MANILA, Philippines – The country is pushed to revisit its safety protocols in schools following the fatal school shooting in Tacloban City on Monday, June 22.

Two minors, aged 14 and 15, were arrested after carrying out the shooting that left three students dead and 20 others injured. 

The tragedy came months after the Department of Education (DepEd) released Department Order (DO) No. 6 in March, which provided simplified and more coherent guidelines in addressing learners’ rights and protection concerns such as child abuse, violence, exploitation, discrimination, bullying, and gender-based sexual harassment, among others.

Cases in both physical and virtual settings are covered by the guidelines.

The issuance is crucial in securing roughly 25 million students in the basic education system. Many are enrolled across the 40,000 public schools nationwide.

As it stands, how does the DepEd keep our schools safe? Here are some things you need to know:

Prevention strategies

Schools are required to develop a learner handbook that includes the Standardized Code of Conduct crafted by bureaus under the DepEd, adopt a localized anti-bullying policy, and ban hazing, as well as fraternities and sororities.

The guidelines also provided a list of security measures for safety in schools.

These measures include, of course, hiring security personnel through their maintenance and other operating expenses, and enforcing visitor guidelines that include the required presentation of valid identification cards and the surrender of prohibited items.

Schools should also conduct plain view inspection of vehicles entering the campus, and are encouraged to install security equipment and closed-circuit television or CCTV in strategic locations.

The use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices is also banned for both students and teachers during instructional time, except for academic purposes and emergency situations. 

List of banned items

Prohibited items inside schools include weapons such as firearms, daggers, and brass knuckles; explosives and incendiary devices; hazardous chemicals; and illegal substances.

Licensed firearms brought into school premises must be unloaded and surrendered along with valid permits.

Items considered irrelevant to learning and can be used for disruption or harm, including tools like hammers or razor blades, flammable materials like lighters and vapes, or gambling and adult materials, should be confiscated. Some of these can be exempted if they are required for science experiments, sports, and other school events.

Do bags need to be inspected?

Conducting bag inspections is part of the list. Bag inspections must be done by security personnel (if absent, designated non-teaching staff or school parent-teacher association members) using non-contact methods like full-body electronic scanners, bag scanners, handheld metal detectors, or search sticks.

“Under no circumstances shall ‘stop and frisk’ procedures or physical pat-downs be integrated into authorized security protocols,” read the DepEd order. 

When there is reasonable suspicion that an individual is in possession of banned items, a full bag search may be done in the principal’s office. The grounds include unusual or nervous behavior suggesting concealment, visible bulges or protruding objects, or credible reports from the school community. 

The suspicion should not be rooted in “discriminatory assumptions based on race, gender, or family history,” the DepEd said. 

Further, school heads are required to implement a monthly routine bag inspection across all grade levels.

No protocols for shooting yet

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the DepEd lacks the protocols for active mass shooting inside school premises. Such violence, until recently, was almost unheard of in the country.

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“It’s something we never thought was applicable,” Angara said in a chance interview on Tuesday, June 23.

“We just have to update it: What to do when you are trapped? What is the behavior to minimize loss and death?” he added in a mix of English and Filipino.

In the United States, where, unfortunately, school shootings are most prevalent, its education department has a list of resources for active shooter situations, which tackle planning evacuation and other processes, sharing information with responders, and checking for warning signs, among others.

For the Philippine National Police, conducting simulation drills for active shooting, just like for other emergencies such as fire and earthquake, is also needed.

On Tuesday, PNP spokesperson Colonel Allen Rae Co told Palace reporters that the agency will do strategic deployment to intensify school monitoring. He said positioning at least one police officer per school nationwide is not feasible.

“That’s why we are asking for the help of the local government units, especially the barangay, as force multipliers like the tanod, would help in making the situation of our schools better,” Co said in Filipino.

Following the June 22 shooting, stricter security measures are implemented in schools in Tacloban City, which resulted in long queues to enter campus grounds.

On Thursday, June 25, the DepEd conducted a security briefing with the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center. Part of the discussions were harmonizing intelligence sharing, improving immediate threat response, and strengthening cyber and physical security protocols around campuses nationwide.

Angara has ordered a nationwide school safety audit, increased police visibility, and a review of existing school safety policies.

Schools’ response strategies

According to the guidelines, schools are encouraged to educate all stakeholders about learners’ rights and protection and implement programs that promote their safety and well-being. They need to engage the community and develop partnerships to advocate for a culture of safety, respect, and child protection. 

Schools must also enhance the visibility of authorities, teach child protection and empowerment in values education, and establish clear incident reporting and referral systems, among others.

But more than that, interventions should be clear in addressing acts that lead to learners’ rights and protection concerns, determinants influencing students to commit these cases, factors affecting students that may cause harm to self or others, and the impact of the incidents to students’ well-being.

Intervention programs include psychological first aid, guidance and counseling, and mental health and psychosocial support services.

Schools must not apply physically harmful punishments to violators and any measures that are physically, sexually, or psychologically harmful, degrading, humiliating, abusive, or violent.

Discipline to be imposed on violators should prioritize the best interest of the students, be proportionate to the nature and gravity of the offense, and be applied only for a valid cause.

But importantly, making schools safer does not mean stricter security measures alone.

The Council for the Welfare of Children said the reports of violent incidents in schools highlights the “urgent need to further strengthen school-based child protection mechanisms, mental health programs, violence prevention initiatives, and early intervention systems.” Groups have the same sentiments. – Rappler.com