Baricuatro orders stricter security measures enforced in Cebu schools
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro takes to Facebook to relay her order of enforcing stricter security measures in schools.
CEBU CITY–Stricter security measures in Cebu schools were ordered after another deadly school violence rocked the country on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
Cebu Gov. Pamela Baricuatro ordered law enforcers to conduct inspections and ensure security in all public and private schools in the province.
The governor’s order came after two students, including the shooter, died in a gun-attack at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
“In light of the recent shooting incident inside a senior high school in Zamboanga that resulted in two fatalities, I directed the PNP (Philippine National Police) Provincial Director and all our COPs (Chiefs of Police) to conduct inspections and to heighten security in both public and private schools,” Baricuatro said in a Facebook post.
Aside from inspections, Baricuatro also ordered the deployment of police personnel in schools.
Also, the National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas (NBI-7) has asked school administrators to participate in the series of school safety information drives that the
agency is conducting.
Maria Contessa Lastimoso, public information officer of NBI-7, said the NBI-7 started conducting safety seminars after the deadly attack at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City last June.
Lastimoso said the information drive aimed at protecting students and faculty members during an active shooting situation but so far, only four schools in Metro Cebu have availed of the free lectures.
“We’re conducting these seminars for free every two weeks… Let’s not wait for something like this to happen. Awareness is key. Security is everything. Both online and offline,” Lastimoso told reporters.