PH conducts school safety drills after shootings

As an alarm warning of an active shooter threat blared through a Philippine public school on Thursday, students and teachers moved swiftly into action.

Some students helped lock and stack chairs against classroom doors, while others drew curtains, switched off lights, and crouched under desks as teachers instructed them to stay quiet and out of sight.

The scene at Carlos F. Gonzales High School in Bulacan province was part of a nationwide school safety drill led by the Philippines' Department of Education and its security agencies, as authorities seek to strengthen emergency preparedness following two recent school shooting incidents.

Under a scripted active-attack scenario, which did not use active-shooter role players, school officials alerted emergency responders, activated a warning system and placed classrooms under lockdown while students sheltered in place until police declared the campus secure.

"Our topmost priority is safety and preparedness," school principal Ceanceno Espirito Jr. said, adding that the drills allow schools to assess emergency response measures and identify areas for improvement.

The drill rehearsed a full emergency response, including coordination with police, evacuation to designated assembly areas, headcounts of students and staff, first-aid treatment for simulated casualties and psychosocial support for those affected.

School shootings are rare in the Philippines, where firearms are tightly regulated. But recent incidents have prompted renewed debate about gun ownership, firearm storage, and children's exposure to social media.

A shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines on August 18 left two students dead, including the alleged gunman.

It was the second school gun attack in the Philippines in less than three months and happened days after a high-profile incident in Thailand, where a student went on a shooting rampage at a school on the outskirts of the capital Bangkok.

-Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by David Stanway/Reuters