PH steps up school security after Zamboanga shooting

Philippine Education Secretary Sonny Angara said on Wednesday (August 19) that police would step up patrols around schools and work with community security officers to bolster safety after a deadly shooting at a high school in Zamboanga City.

He added that security officers could also be deployed to smaller schools without security guards. Angara also stressed the need to monitor the psychological well-being of students, describing it as a lasting concern.

"Psychological well-being and socio-emotional learning are things that really need to be closely monitored because these are long-term issues. To some extent, we cannot fully control what goes on in children's minds." Angara said in an interview.

Two students were killed in Tuesday's (August 18) shooting at a school attached to the privately run Ateneo de Zamboanga University, including the student identified by police as the gunman.

The gunman live-streamed himself shooting and killing another student in a classroom in the southern Philippines on Tuesday before taking his own life, an official said, in the second school attack in the country in less than two months.

School shootings are rare in the Philippines, which has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, including background ‌checks and psychological evaluation requirements, although illegal firearms remain in circulation.

Camera: Nonoy Lacson, Editing & Writing: Adrian Portugal/Reuters