"ALL is well.”
This was the immediate assessment of Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Leonardo Espina on the opening of classes for an estimated 23 million public school students nationwide.
Espina said there was no serious untoward incident recorded based on the monitoring of the PNP National Operations Center.
Two public schools in Alabel town in Sarangani however were not able to start with their formal classes on Monday due to the reported presence of communist rebels in the area.
Earlier, the PNP activated its Oplan Ligtas Balik Eskwela to ensure peace and order during the opening of classes by increasing the number of police forces that will guard schools and installing police assistance desks in areas near schools.
Espina said he also ordered policemen in the regions not to let their guards down to prevent the occurrence of any untoward incident.
“Hindi muna natin ititigil ito (intensified security operations) until everything is stabilized kasi ‘yung dagsa, lalong-lalo na sa umpisa, maninibago na naman after the long vacation,” the police official said.
The PNP will apply the same security measures for the opening of classes in private schools next week. (Sunnex)