Lanao del Sur cops deployed to school after teacher's death
COTABATO CITY – Police in Lanao del Sur have deployed plainclothes and uniformed personnel near the lone public tertiary school in Balabagan town following the Aug. 4 killing of a school teacher.
In a radio interview on Monday, Lanao del Sur police director police Col. Caezar Cabuhat said he held a dialogue with administrators, parents, and students of Balabagan Trade School.
He assured them of the police deployment to prevent future violence against school officials.
Teacher Danilo Barba Jr., who hailed from Trento, Agusan del Sur, was gunned down on Monday morning, Aug. 4, in front of the Balabagan Trade School in Barangay Narra by a lone gunman armed with a .45 caliber pistol. Barba died on the spot.
Cabuhat said a Grade 11 student, identified as "Kaizer," has been arrested after witnesses, including the school principal and a tricycle driver, pointed him out as the attacker.
The suspect surrendered through his uncle, who is a police officer and helped authorities in finding the gunman.
During the inquest proceeding, Cabuhat said he was shocked to hear the suspect confess to the crime.
“The suspect admitted that he shot his teacher because he gave him a failing grade,” Cabuhat told DXMS Radio, relaying what the student told the prosecutor.
Cabuhat revealed that some of the teachers had planned to go on a mass resignation following the incident.
“However, when I talked to the town mayor, the principal, and the teachers, and told them the police and the Army would be deployed as peacekeepers, they changed their minds,” he said.
He added a strict inspection among students, teachers, parents, and visitors at the school's entrance gate is also being implemented to prevent a repeat of the incident. (PNA)