ILOILO City – Students and school personnel across Western Visayas could face tighter entrance screening as the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6) considers a clear-bag policy aimed at preventing firearms, bladed weapons and other prohibited items from entering school campuses.
The proposed security measure is being studied following shooting incidents inside schools in different parts of the country, prompting PRO-6 to assess whether transparent bags could provide an additional layer of protection for students, teachers and other school personnel.
PRO-6 director Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño has directed provincial and city police directors to coordinate with Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division offices and obtain their initial assessments on the proposal.
“We want to hear from DepEd and the schools themselves,” Tuaño said.
Under the proposal, students and school personnel may be required to use transparent bags, allowing security personnel to more easily inspect their contents during entrance screening.
The measure is being considered particularly to help prevent firearms, bladed weapons and other prohibited items from being brought onto school premises.
Tuaño, however, stressed that transparent bags alone cannot guarantee campus security and should merely complement existing safety measures.
“This should only be an additional security measure. It should not replace the security measures that are already in place in our schools,” he said.
He said police visibility, access control, reporting of suspicious activities and effective coordination during emergencies remain crucial components of school security.
“We need to look at the entire security system. The clear bag is only one possible measure that can help our security personnel identify what is being brought inside the school,” Tuaño said.
The PRO-6 chief said the circumstances and concerns of students, teachers and other school personnel must also be considered before any policy is adopted.
“We have to coordinate with DepEd because they are the ones directly managing the schools. We need their assessment, their recommendations and also their concerns,” Tuaño said.
Tuaño clarified that PRO-6 has not imposed a region-wide clear-bag requirement and that the proposal remains at the assessment and coordination stage.
“We are not saying that this will immediately be implemented. We are studying it first, and we will base our next steps on the assessment and recommendations of DepEd,” Tuaño said.
Beyond the proposed bag policy, PRO-6 is looking at stronger coordination among law enforcement agencies, schools, parents, local government units and communities as part of broader efforts to improve campus security.
Tuaño said cooperation among these sectors is crucial not only in preventing security threats but also in ensuring faster and more coordinated responses during emergencies.
“School security is a shared responsibility. The police cannot do it alone. We need the cooperation of the school administration, teachers, parents, students, local government and the community,” he said.
Early this week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a nationwide reassessment of school security after the deadly Banga National High School shooting in South Cotabato became the country’s third fatal campus shooting in just three months, raising urgent questions over how minors are gaining access to firearms and bringing them into schools.
Marcos directed DepEd, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to review measures adopted after previous school shootings and identify security gaps that may have allowed another attack to occur.
He also ordered a comprehensive investigation into Friday last week’s shooting, particularly how the minor suspect obtained a firearm and managed to bring it inside the school.
The shooting occurred at around 1:15 p.m. inside a classroom at Banga National High School in Barangay Benitez, Banga, South Cotabato.
Three students, including the Grade 9 gunman, were killed while six others were wounded.
Authorities said the student gunman shot himself after firing at his classmates.
The firearm used in the attack was reportedly a 9mm Glock pistol owned by the suspect’s father, who is a member of a local gun club.
The Banga shooting was the third deadly school shooting reported in the Philippines in three months, following separate incidents in Tacloban and Zamboanga.
Marcos stressed that school shootings must not become an accepted reality for Filipino children.
“Hindi natin maaaring tanggapin na maging bahagi na lamang ng buhay ng ating mga anak ang mga pamamaril sa paaralan,” the President said. “Karapatan ng ating mga anak na makapag-aral nang walang takot. Karapatan ng mga magulang na maipadala sila sa paaralan nang alam na uuwi silang ligtas. Ito ang pananagutan natin sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino.”/PN
