In Cotabato, school attendance drops after student’s shooting

Sara Duterte —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday instructed officials of a school in Cotabato province to implement remote learning after a recent gun attack that killed one student resulted in a decline in attendance to at least 65 percent.

During her visit to Pikit National High School (PNHS) in Cotabato, Duterte was informed that the death of a 13-year-old student caused a “dramatic decline” in the attendance of learners out of fear for their lives.

According to school officials, aside from security, other issues contributing to learners’ alarming dropout rate include teenage pregnancy and poverty.

“Our job is to make sure that everyone who is scared will still continue studying at home,” Duterte told PNHS officials, as she ordered them to ensure that all students would undergo an alternative learning mode.

On Feb. 14, Fahad Guiamalon, a junior high school student of PNHS, was on his way home to Barangay Macabual in Pikit, with two 12-year-old companions when unidentified gunmen shot them. Guiamalon did not survive while his companions were wounded.

Reward

Last week, the Pikit local government offered a P200,000 reward to anyone who could provide information that would lead to the identification and arrest of the suspects behind the killing of Guiamalon.

Another P200,000 was offered to informants in the murder of tricycle driver Jose Neri Gonzales, who was killed on Feb. 13.

Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan said he was hoping that the reward would help hasten the identification of the people behind the series of gun attacks in the town.

“We need your help, we need everybody’s help to stop all these killings,” Sultan told members of the Municipal Peace and Order Council, who approved the use of the P400,000 from local coffers.

The mayor urged those who had information to submit evidence to the police for verification and validation.

In a statement, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) raised alarm over the incident, saying that the killing of innocent children was “unacceptable and must stop.”

“Children must be protected at all times and their best interests must be the guiding principles in every action by the government and the community,” Behzad Noubary, Unicef Philippines deputy representative, said in a statement on Feb. 16.

Tight security

By the local media’s count alone, Guiamalon’s death brought to 30 the number of people killed in a series of gun attacks in Pikit since September 2022, considered the height of the killings which started as early as January last year.

Pikit municipal council also passed a resolution banning riding tandem in the town, as suspects in the attacks were usually on a motorcycle driven by a companion.

An additional two companies of soldiers had been deployed to Pikit to help the police in maintaining order in the town.

The police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said it was ready to send more policemen to augment security personnel of Pikit.

More policemen had been stationed near schools in Pikit to ensure safety of students, Sultan said. INQ