DepEd to sign pact with DILG for tanod deployment in schools

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are set to forge a memorandum of agreement formalizing the deployment of village watchmen or barangay tanods in public schools.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Roger Masapol said on Monday that village watchmen have been deployed to schools since a June school shooting in Leyte, where three were killed and multiple others were injured when two pistol-wielding students opened fire at San Jose National High School.

“There will be a signing between DepEd and DILG by Wednesday this week,” he told lawmakers.

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Mapasol’s statement follows a wave of campus violence across the Philippines, which had triggered intensifying calls for heightened security measures in educational institutions.

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He said that DepEd conducted a security and safety audit after the Tacloban incident. The agency found that nearly half of schools nationwide now have video surveillance systems.

“During that June audit, 36 percent of our schools have CCTV cameras. We ran another round of audit. Now, 49 percent of our schools have CCTV cameras,” Masapol said. “That means either the schools or the LGU (local government unit) stepped up.”

He said that schools rely on a combination of institutional operating budgets, local government subsidies and Parent-Teacher Association funds to finance security upgrades.

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“It’s a combination of these sources,” said Masapol.

About 43 percent of schools also have security personnel overseeing their campuses, he said, citing the same survey.

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“During the first round of the survey, only 31.7 percent had security guards. This is a combination of watchmen, blue guards and some volunteers,” Masapol noted. “But in the recent audit, more than 43 percent of the schools said that they have security guards in different forms.”

DepEd also proposed that one security guard be assigned to small-sized schools with less than 500 students and medium campuses with up 501 to 1,000 students. Large schools would be assigned with two security personnel, while “extremely large” schools would be assigned four. /jpv