tacloban city mass shooting

• Davao City Council pushes for mandatory security guard funding in public schools

THE 21ST City Council on Tuesday, June 23, urged the Department of Education to provide funds to hire security guards following the series of attacks in public schools, including the tragic mass shooting in Tacloban City that claimed three lives and injured 20 others.

Proponent Councilor Luna Acosta said DepEd has not allocated an adequate budget to secure public school students.

“We ask the national government to divert the millions of pesos used to prioritize political maneuverings into security for our schools instead,” Acosta said. 

The move follows a series of violent incidents inside schools nationwide, including stabbings and shootings in Cavite, Quezon City, Tagum, and a recent active shooter situation at a school in Tacloban.

Acosta said while private schools are mandated by law to finance their own trained security forces, public institutions remain severely constrained by budget limitations.

She said local defense measures in Davao City currently deploy the Civil Security Unit (CSU) and the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) under the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO) to safeguard campus perimeters. 

However, Acosta clarified that these forces serve as general deterrents stationed outside campus gates rather than security guards. 

“Schools are zones of peace and safety and should remain so. An increase in the budget of the schools for security purposes is an investment that the DepEd should prioritize above all,” Acosta stated during her privilege speech. 

However, Councilor Diosdado Angelo Mahipus raised concerns over possible delays in the DepEd budget allocation and instead pushed for a localized immediate response.

“Maybe for us to better expect outputs, maybe we should engage DepEd XI or even at the level of the school so that this might happen if we pass a resolution urging the schools in Davao City, the public schools, to consider providing security guards or hiring security guards on their premises,” Mahipus said. 

Acosta simultaneously filed a resolution urging DepEd XI to initiate emergency security enhancements.

Councilor Antoinette Principe, committee chair on education, emphasized tightening physical security, but also strengthening behavioral and preventive programs in Davao City schools. 

“Here in Davao City, we do not want those untoward incidents happening in our city, as we consider our schools as the second home of our children. So, we need to ensure that our youth, our learners, can return home safely to their respective families,” she said. 

The committees on education and peace and order are set to hold a joint public hearing to craft a legislative measure to safeguard school campuses.