The Department of Education (DepEd) will strengthen school safety measures by introducing active shooter drills in schools, Secretary Sonny Angara said Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
Launch of Active Shooter Drills
Angara said the active shooter drills, which will show students and teachers how to respond in the event of an armed attack on campus, will be launched on Friday, July 10. The move came in light of the shooting incident at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City that resulted in the killing of three students and wounding of 20 others. The two suspects were Grade 9 students in the same school.
“Nag-a-adjust tayo kasi ito ‘yung kauna-unahang school shooting. Ibig sabihin, estudyante ang namaril (We are making adjustments because this is the first school shooting of its kind. That means the shooter was a student),” Angara said. “Ginagawa na natin yung active shooter drills. Ano'ng gagawin kapag may shooting sa eskwelahan. May ila-launch tayo sa Biyernes na yung shooting drills ay ipapakita natin anong kailangang gawin. Kapag may bumaril sa eskwelahan, lahat tayo may protocol na automatic,” he added. (We are already conducting active shooter drills. These are meant to teach what should be done in the event of a school shooting. On Friday, we will launch a program demonstrating the proper procedures. If a shooting occurs at a school, everyone will have a protocol to follow automatically.)
Coordination with PNP for Bomb Threats
Aside from preparing schools for active shooter situations, the education chief said DepEd will also seek the assistance of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in responding to the increasing number of bomb threats received by schools. According to Angara, schools should coordinate with police authorities, particularly the PNP's Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) teams, to inspect campuses whenever bomb threats are reported.
“Yung mga sanay sa bomb threat, ang ginagawa nila, tinatawag nila ang Swat team ng PNP. Papasok ang Swat team tapos kung cleared ng Swat team, pwede nang pumasok ulit,” he said. (In cases involving bomb threats, the usual procedure is to call the Philippine National Police's Swat team. The Swat team conducts a clearing operation, and once they declare the area safe, people are allowed to return.)
No Automatic Class Suspension
Despite the rise in bomb threats, Angara said he does not believe schools should automatically suspend classes every time such threats are received. Instead, he said authorities should first conduct a thorough assessment and security sweep to determine whether there is a credible threat before deciding whether classes should continue.
