DepEd sets ‘active shooter drills’ after deadly Tacloban incident

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Education (DepEd) will roll out safety drills to prepare students for violent incidents in school campuses, following the Tacloban City incident that killed three students and wounded at least 20 others.

“We are adjusting because we have the first-ever school shooting, which means students were the shooters. So we are now doing the active shooter drill,” Education Secretrary Sonny Angara told reporters during a school-based feeding program activity in Pulilan, Bulacan.

“The drill will focus on the things that should be done when there is a school shooting. We will be launching that on Friday,“ he said, adding that it will serve as an “automatic protocol.”

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Angara said DepEd will seek the assistance of the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid recent bomb threats targeting schools.

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He added while some schools suspend classes immediately, others deploy PNP Special Weapons and Tactics teams to respond.

Earlier, Baguio City said it is developing a school shooting response plan that will be implemented through drills, similar to earthquake preparedness exercises.Baguio City has begun piloting active shooter drills at Baguio City National High School and Fort del Pilar Elementary and High School, according to Cliftone Bangse-il, the city schools division’s disaster risk reduction and management coordinator.

READ: Baguio eyes drills for response to school shooting, violence

For its part, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said emergency preparedness alone is not enough to stop violence from happening in schools.

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“DepEd must go beyond a primarily reactive approach and give equal, if not greater, attention to preventing violence before it happens,” said the group.

“Schools must remain genuine zones of peace and safety and not places where active shooter drills become a regular necessity because the conditions that breed insecurity remain unaddressed,” it added.

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ACT said the government must address the underlying factors that make schools unsafe, noting that corruption, weak accountability, and a culture of impunity are worsening the problems.

It pointed out that underinvestment in education, teacher and staff shortages, limited mental health support, and poor school safety measures have weakened the education system’s ability to protect learners and education workers.

“Preparedness is necessary, but it is no substitute for prevention. School safety cannot rely on emergency response protocols alone,” said ACT.

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“It requires confronting the systemic conditions that enable violence and place learners and education workers at risk in the first place,” the group added. /gsg