DepEd warns: Students who make bomb jokes, threats barred from re-enrolling
MANILA, Philippines — Students who make bomb threats — even as jokes — will be barred from enrolling in their schools the following year, the Department of Education warned Friday, July 3.
DepEd's rules classify such jokes as a third level offense "because of the grave danger these acts pose to learners, school personnel, and the public."
"Such acts trigger emergency responses, create panic, disrupt classes, and may also result in criminal liability under existing laws," DepEd's news release on Friday stated.
The warning came a day after a fake shooting alert spread on Messenger and sent parents rushing to Bagong Silangan High School in Quezon City to pull their children out of class.
"Fake news, dangerous pranks, and bomb threats are never harmless — they disrupt learning and put others at risk," Education Secretary Sonny Angara said as quoted in the release.
Under DepEd Order 006, s. 2026, the department's guidelines for a safe learning environment that Angara signed in March, bomb threats and bomb jokes rank as third-level offenses, the highest tier. Other acts that count as such are carrying firearms, drug possession, hazing, and homicide.
Fake news, pranks
For bomb threats or jokes, a first offense will lead to non-readmission, wherein the student finishes the current school year but cannot enroll the next, and is referred to the relevant agencies. The DepEd order cites as examples the Philippine National Police and the Social Welfare Development Office.
A second offense will lead to exclusion, where the student is immediately dropped from the class list.
Beside bomb jokes, sharing any kind of "fake news" or carrying out pranks that stir confusion on campus or disrupt classes count as a minor offense.
A first offense draws a written reprimand and notice to parents; a second office leads to a parental summons; a third, suspension of up to five school days with alternative learning arrangements.
The order requires due process before any penalty. Students will first be given a written notice and 10 days to answer with a parent or counsel, and 15 days to appeal.
DepEd told students to think before posting or sharing anything online, and asked parents, teachers, and school officials to help keep campuses safe.
Fake shooting alert
Messages warning of a shooting at Bagong Silangan High School circulated online yesterday, leading parents and students to panic.
Quezon City police, already at the school for a meeting with administrators, traced the confusion to a loud bang from a construction site next door that students mistook for gunfire.
A probe is already underway for the source of the fake messages, according to a statement by the school.
The false claim of a school shooting had taken place amid a country already on edge by repeated incidents of campus violence.
On June 22, two students opened fire at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, killing three students and wounding 20 others.
Both chambers of Congress have opened investigations into the shooting and related incidents.
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