DepEd to Deploy Metal Detectors, Guard Reinforcements to Curb Campus Violence

The Department of Education (DepEd) is rolling out an intensified nationwide school safety campaign to curb campus violence by deploying handheld metal detectors and increasing security personnel. Education Secretary Sonny Angara disclosed that severe budget constraints mean the hiring of new security guards will prioritize larger campuses with enrollments exceeding 1,000 to 1,500 students, where most incidents take place. Currently, only about 31.7 percent of public schools have security guards.

As an immediate, cost-effective countermeasure, DepEd is actively procuring thousands of handheld metal scanners to distribute to public schools nationwide. The devices cost only a few thousand pesos each, allowing the agency to equip almost all schools quickly to keep prohibited weapons off school grounds. The agency has also tapped the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to deploy local police and barangay safety officers as perimeter force multipliers. Public schools will also introduce regular emergency response and active shooter drills to ensure students and personnel are prepared for potential threats.

This aggressive security push follows several recent tragedies on school grounds, including a fatal shooting at a Tacloban City campus in June and a fatal stabbing incident involving students in Las Piñas City. DepEd officials emphasize that these measures are intended to restore schools as safe zones for learning.