Bells silent, classrooms empty as school starts healing

TACLOBAN CITY , Philippines — The bell is silent. The classrooms are empty.

This was how Tacloban City Division public information officer Nilo Eder of the Department of Education described the present situation at San Jose National High School after a shooting incident on Monday morning that left three dead and 20 others wounded.

Eder told The STAR yesterday that classes remain suspended in the school to give students and teachers “breathing room” and help them cope with the traumatic experience.

According to Eder, the suspension will stay in effect until Friday. “They need time. Time to breathe, time to heal,” he said.

But while the gates stay closed, security has been ratcheted up.

At Leyte National High School, the largest secondary school in Eastern Visayas with over 8,000 learners, long lines greeted students on Thursday morning. Students lined up as security personnel inspected their bags one by one.

“We have to do this to ensure safety of every student,” Eder said, so that violence “will not happen again.”

Aside from strict inspections, several barangay tanods and other force multipliers were also deployed at the school gates.

And while guards watched outside, Department of Social Welfare and Development personnel interacted with students during psycho-social intervention and counseling sessions, asking students: “How are you?”

“Students and teachers have been given assurance,” the DepEd official said. “Security is being implemented now. Not tomorrow, now.”

Fake news

Meanwhile, an unverified post on social media spread yesterday in Leyte about a supposed “active shooter” and a “school in Tolosa under attack.”

Leyte Philippine National Police provincial director Col. Cerelino Sacro belied the rumors, saying that upon verification, no school in Tolosa was attacked and that the post was false.

A shooting incident did happen that morning in Burauen, Leyte — but not in a classroom and not with students.

In an official statement, the Leyte Provincial Police Office said recent messages circulating online regarding alleged threats have been validated and that there is no verified information indicating any actual or imminent threat.

The LPPO likewise reminds everyone to verify information through official sources and avoid spreading false, misleading, or alarming information.

“In times of trauma, check before you share because one unverified post can send a whole province into panic,” the PNP reminded.

Marcos Jr. ‘heartbroken’

A “heartbroken” President Marcos has ordered agencies to determine the roots of the problem that led to the tragic school shooting in Tacloban, which has left three students dead and has stirred debates about raising the age of criminal liability.

Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said violent incidents, especially those involving the youth, are unacceptable and should not be ignored.

“When the President learned about what happened in Tacloban, he was heartbroken. The President felt that way because it appears that the children were behind the crime, that they were capable of planning the commission of the crime and innocent young people were also the ones who ended up as victims,” Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

“The President wants to immediately determine the root of this (problem),” she added.

Asked to react to reports about the foiled mass shooting in Leyte and the stabbing in Negros Occidental, Castro said: “There is really a need to know where they started, whether they were copycat crimes, whether this type of violence is becoming normal among the youth.”

Angara convenes security briefing

Education Secretary Sonny Angara ordered a nationwide, multi-agency effort to strengthen school safety measures following the shooting incident at San Jose National High School in Tacloban and the foiled mass shooting in Tolosa.

Angara met with officials from the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center in a comprehensive security briefing on Thursday.

He said the DepEd is working closely with the PNP, local government units, national government agencies, and civil society organizations to reinforce campus security, expand learner protection services, and support affected school communities.

Angara tasked the officials to conduct of a nationwide school safety audit, increased police visibility in coordination with the PNP, daily monitoring of affected learners and personnel in San Jose National High School, and the review of existing school safety policies under the school safety campaign.

Angara said funds have been allocated for public schools to acquire handheld metal detectors and repair perimeter fences. The DepEd chief encouraged Local School Boards to maximize the use of the Special Education Fund for school safety and security measures, consistent with existing laws and regulations.

The Schools Division Office of Tacloban City has been providing Psychological First Aid from June 23 to 26 to help affected learners and teachers process trauma and restore a sense of safety.

For its part, the DSWD has provided assistance to the families of victims in Tacloban, Leyte and General Trias, Cavite.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian personally visited the wakes of Chris Lorenz Fabian, 15; Yancee Separa, 15; and Ayessa Nicole Dazo; 14 on Wednesday.

Gatchalian told the families that they will get funeral assistance and other psychosocial interventions. The DSWD’s field office in Eastern Visayas has also pledged financial assistance to the 20 people who were injured by Monday’s school shooting.

Meanwhile, the agency’s field office in Calabarzon has provided P10,000 to the seven elementary students who were stabbed by a 14-year-old Grade 5 student.

The local government unit of General Trias City has already covered medical expenses of all victims, and has organized psychosocial interventions for them –   Alexis Romero, Bella Cariaso, EJ Macababbad