MANILA, Philippines — Agusan del Norte Rep. Dale Corvera on Monday pushed for an inter-agency task force to address school violence following the shooting at a school in Zamboanga City last week.
Corvera, a member of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, said the growing threats of violence on campuses have become too complex for the Department of Education (DepEd) to handle alone.
“What happened in Zamboanga and Tacloban are also happening in other parts of the world, and it has been alarming to see the number of violent incidents in schools increase drastically, from stabbings to shootings to bomb threats, and these must end, once and for all,” he said.
The lawmaker said school violence stems from multiple factors, including security, mental health and student discipline, and not from a single cause such as bullying, online radicalization or video games.
He proposed a task force composed of the Philippine National Police, Department of Health, Department of the Interior and Local Government and DepEd, to lead efforts to identify and address vulnerabilities that could allow violence to occur in schools.
Corvera urged the government to treat school violence as a continuing crisis requiring immediate action, warning that authorities must act before another tragedy strikes.
