The city government is preparing to conduct active shooter drills in schools as part of an intensified campaign to strengthen campus safety and security, according to Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
Magalong said the initiative was discussed during a recent meeting of the Local School Board to determine how the drills will be implemented across the city.
“Active shooter drill na gagawin namin. So, ongoing na yung mga meetings doon kung paano gagawin. Pinapag-aralan na yung kung paano namin i-implement, paano i-coconduct yung drill sa mga schools,” Magalong said.
Aside from emergency response preparedness, Magalong said the local government is coordinating with schools, parent-teacher associations, psychologists, and health professionals to improve the early detection of students experiencing mental health concerns.
The mayor emphasized that while police visibility remains important, law enforcement presence alone is not enough to prevent incidents of violence on campuses adding that deploying more police officers may only have a temporary effect if the underlying causes of aggressive behavior are left unaddressed, he added.
Magalong stressed that the city aims to identify the root causes and behavioral triggers that could lead to violence among students. Understanding these factors through collaboration with education and mental health experts is essential to creating a safer school environment, the mayor said.
Earlier, the Department of Education-Cordillera Administrative Region ordering a tightening of campus security and the enforcement of strict teacher-to-class ratios in a bid to protect more than 147,000 high school students in the wake of a shooting inside a school in Tacloban that left several learners dead and injured.
The Police Regional Office-Cordillera Administrative Region also intensified its security measures by deploying police personnel to public and private schools throughout the region to maintain a safe, orderly, and conducive learning environment. Jerome Jacy Cruz |UC Intern
