SEN. Bam Aquino called for the immediate passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2390, or the Comprehensive School Safety Act, which aims to establish a nationwide framework for preventing and responding to violence and other threats in schools.
This comes following two deadly shooting incidents involving students in Tacloban City and Zamboanga City.
Aquino said Congress must move beyond security measures and address the wider community, digital and behavioral factors that threaten learners and school personnel.
The senator said he intends to sponsor the measure on Wednesday.
“There is a lot that needs to be done, and I’m hoping we can get support for the School Safety Act. Let’s put all the necessary and good ideas in there and let’s move it forward,” said Aquino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, in the bill’s manifestation.
The Zamboanga shooting on Aug. 18 at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School campus left two students dead, including the Grade 9 student who allegedly carried out the attack and later took his own life.
Authorities said the incident was livestreamed on social media.
The shooting came about two months after a deadly school attack in Tacloban City that also raised concerns over youth violence and school security.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered a thorough investigation into the incidents.
Aquino’s proposed legislation would establish a school safety framework beginning at the national level but requiring every locality to develop its own framework involving schools, government agencies and communities.
“It’s good that we start addressing this as a community, discussing, developing this framework, understanding your protocols and making it clearer to every sector of the community what their role is,” Aquino said.
Under the bill, every school would be required to prepare and annually update a school safety plan covering emergency procedures, hotlines, safety infrastructure, digital safety, off-campus activities, community participation and monitoring.
