Vice President Sara Duterte during budget hearing in the Senate. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph Vidal
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte has ordered regional and school division offices to coordinate with the police to determine whether schools need weapons checks among staff and students in light of recent violent occurrences on school grounds.
Regional offices and school division offices have been instructed to report on the actions taken, according to DepEd spokesman Michael Poa.
“The Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Z. Duterte have instructed our Field Operations to issue a directive for all Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices to coordinate with their PNP counterparts in the Region, Cities, and Municipalities in identifying schools which require spot inspections of weapons among personnel and learners, and subsequently, a report on the actions taken,” Poa said in a statement.
DepEd issued the statement following a heartbreaking incident involving a 12-year-old Grade 6 student from San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. He accidentally shot himself with his father’s service pistol, a policeman.
On Friday last week, another 13-year-old male student at Culiat High School in Quezon City was killed after being stabbed by his 15-year-old male classmate.
DepEd said it was “deeply disturbed” by the incident.