THE spate of school shootings involving high school students attacking fellow students has shifted attention momentarily away from the impeachment proceedings in the Senate and the alleged thievery of our politicians.
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. This is in the wake of the latest shooting incident at a public high school in South Cotabato, which resulted in the killing of three students and wounding of eight others.
The task force brings together the Department of Education (DepEd), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to review how schools secure their premises and respond to threats. This includes gaps in physical access control, threat reporting, emergency response and coordination with local law enforcement.
The review would establish an operational framework that schools could use in responding to crises. “We need to beef up security measures because we are not prepared for these shootings,” Angara said. He inspected Banga National High School, where a Grade 9 student allegedly shot 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 City 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.
The latest incident has led to 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. The DepEd has also introduced the conduct of “active shooter” drills on campuses.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered a thorough investigation, particularly on how a minor got hold of a firearm and managed to bring it into the school. “We cannot accept school shootings becoming a normal part of our children’s lives,” Marcos said. He ordered the DepEd, DILG and PNP to report on the measures they had taken after the previous school shootings. Additional steps would be announced to address 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 the DepEd was awaiting the findings on how the firearm entered the school and how the shooter gained access to it.
He also said DepEd would seek the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology in examining reports about the influence of an online community promoting violence among students. Rightly so, for now the DepEd’s priority is the welfare of the survivors, their families and the broader school community. This includes preparations for a safe return to face-to-face classes after the traumatic incident.
The review is expected to examine the availability of mental health support in public schools, where there is a continued shortage of guidance 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.
The DepEd said immediate intervention teams had already been deployed to give psychological first aid and mental health support to affected learners, their families and school personnel. It urged the public not to circulate unverified claims or graphic material about the shooting as such content could compound the trauma experienced by those affected.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said the shooting highlighted the continuing shortage of guidance counselors and psychosocial support in public schools. ACT chairman 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. She said access to firearms owned by government employees should also be examined, citing what she described as a pattern that required investigation.
To be fair, DepEd has gone on a recruitment drive for guidance counselors. It has even begun hiring guidance associates who don’t have the required master’s degrees but have enough Psychology units and internship hours. But there are only a few takers because of the low pay and the huge number of students to be served.
And therein lies the rub.
