Cebu City and Cebu Province police have strengthened security measures and maintained officer presence in public and private schools throughout the school year, despite receiving no security threats.
Cebu City Police Office Acting Director Col. Ricky Sumalde stated that police outposts have been positioned near school gates, supported by mobile patrols, random classroom inspections, and additional personnel for night classes.
Police will maintain their presence from morning student arrivals until afternoon departures, with station commanders instructed to deploy more personnel where student populations are larger or needs are more urgent.
POLICE in Cebu City and Cebu Province have strengthened security measures in schools to protect students, parents and teachers.
Although authorities in Central Visayas have not received any security threats, police presence in schools will continue throughout the school year.
Cebu City Police Office Acting Director Col. Ricky Sumalde confirmed that security measures are in place for both public and private schools through coordination with local government units and the Department of Education.
“Our deployment has already been established and we will continue the presence of our personnel in schools,” Sumalde said.
“We have seen that police presence is effective, so we really need to continue it. If necessary, we will add personnel in areas with a larger number of students or where the need is more urgent.”
To facilitate a faster response to emergencies, police have positioned their outposts near school gates.
According to Sumalde, the outposts make it easier for police and school officials to coordinate in case of an incident.
Police will maintain a presence from the time students arrive in the morning until they leave in the afternoon.
Mobile patrol cars and motorcycles will also conduct regular patrols around school campuses.
Sumalde also instructed station commanders to deploy additional police personnel to schools that hold night classes.
“We already have existing deployments that we are maintaining, including for night classes,” Sumalde said.
“I issued instructions to the station commanders to deploy additional police personnel to protect students attending night classes.”
With the permission of school principals and administrators, police may also conduct random safety inspections inside classrooms.
Sumalde assured that the police are prepared to respond to any emergency and emphasized that no security threats were identified during their meetings with school leaders.
“Through our coordination with school officials and principals, we have not observed any threats,” Sumalde said.
“However, if any situation arises, our police force is fully prepared to respond to any incident.” / ABC