Friday, November 23, 2007 2 students hurt in drive-by shoot; war vs. frats on
A DRIVE-BY shooting on F. Llamas St. in Bara-ngay Tisa, Cebu City injured two brothers who were hanging out in the area.
The gunmen, riding a multicab, fired at them yesterday dawn.
Alex Navarro, 17, suffered gunshot wounds in the legs, while his brother Jovani, 23, was wounded in the back, leg and thigh. They were taken to the Cebu City Medical Center.
PO1 Lou Pagara of the Cebu City Police Homicide Section said the two brothers were hanging out with some friends along the road.
Some distance from them was another group of young men, who the Navarros believe are gang members.
The brothers noticed a white multicab pass by. But suddenly, the vehicle returned. The passengers then opened fire on the group ahead of the Navarros, who were the ones hit instead.
The police failed to catch the perpetrators.
The shooting took place on the same day the Department of Education (DepEd) came up with ways to keep students from joining gangs.
Clubs
DepEd will strictly require each student to be part of at least one school club or organization starting next month.
“This is just a jump-start on the anti-gang campaign,” Cebu City education consultant Joy Augustus Young said in an interview after meeting some principals from different schools yesterday.
Cebu City Schools Superintendent Lorna Rances said principals should strictly supervise school activities.
“They should (implement) alternative activities (like that of the Philippine National) Red Cross, Boy Scouts (and) Girl Scouts (of the Philippines), among others,” she said.
Rances said students won’t find any reason to join gangs if they are accepted in a certain school organization like the glee club or mathematics club because these activities will keep them busy.
That’s why “we have to increase the promotion of clubs in the school,” Young said.
He suggested that students should be required to attend one club for a specific subject and another club that caters to their interest like a glee club for those who love to sing.
“Why wait for June to start implementing? June is still too far,” Young said, adding that it should be implemented the soonest possible.
Rances also advised parents to keep a close watch on their children.
No hiding
Principals should also to strictly implement the “no noon-break” policy, wherein students can have their one-hour lunch break, but are not allowed to go outside the school premises so that “they will be forced to bring and eat their lunch inside the school.”
“After they eat their lunch for 30 minutes, they can do things that would enhance their learning like playing chess, scrabble and puzzles, and reading,” Rances said.
DepEd has come up with joint strategies with some sectors to help the schools solve the problem of gangs.
This has to be a collective effort, because “di man mahimo’g usa lang (It’s useless if we do it alone). The barangay (officials), the police and the parents have to be there,” Young said.
Before, the Cebu City School Board did not handle gang cases like hazing “just because we do not know the solution to it (so) we leave it alone to the principals,” Young said.
But as related problems worsen, “we feel that enough is enough and we need to do something (because) hiding from it won’t solve the problem,” he said.
As part of the campaign, he said police won’t just drive around the schools, they would have to stop and “go inside schools for visibility.” (TEP/JFT of Superbalita)
