THE Department of Education Region 11 (Deped Davao) is urging parents and families to take an active role in student safety at home as the agency overhauls its active shooter drills and tightens school security.
Speaking at the Isyu Karon media forum on September 11 at The Royal Mandaya Hotel, Deped Davao Spokesperson Jenielito Atillo stressed that institutional protocols and security forces alone cannot protect learners without strong support from families.
"Everything emanates from home," Atillo pointed out. "If the foundation at home is quite weak, then he will be eaten up by the society... The attitude of the child is the business of all also, specifically now that we have a lot of disruptions by technology,” he added.
He urged parents to communicate with their children, monitor social media exposure, and participate in school safety orientations to ensure emergency training is reinforced within the household.
Revised active shooter drills
Atillo also revealed that the agency updated its active shooter simulation frameworks. The agency had consultations with child development experts and psychiatrists to strip out aggressive role-playing elements and mock weapons.
"We weeded out the role-playing thing involving bringing arms and tapping children, learners to act as the shooter... [and] the assault," Atillo said. "Inalis namin lahat 'yan as part of us listening to the experts... specifically the psychiatrists."
Experts warned that realistic assault simulations cause severe psychological distress to young students and risk inadvertently teaching them tactical methods. Under the revised framework, active shooter drills focus strictly on trigger alarm recognition, public address announcements, lookout execution, and lockdown procedures without simulated gunfire or armed actors.
To ensure student safety, Atillo emphasized that schools must complete a mandatory six-stage pipeline before conducting any active shooter simulation. The process begins with a school readiness and risk assessment, followed by learner preparation, consent, and safeguarding — a phase that requires signed parental approval and screens out students with underlying health conditions.
The protocol then follows classroom discussions and protective action walkthroughs before executing the actual drill. Schools then conduct recovery, reunification, and psychosocial support for participants, concluding with an after-action review to identify and correct any operational weaknesses.
Addressing public concerns over the recent simulation exercise, Atillo clarified that the drill had been postponed from its original August 25 schedule to incorporate expert recommendations and ensure non-consenting or vulnerable students were excused.
Strict access controls and campus upgrades
Alongside drill revisions, Deped-Davao is enforcing stricter visitor protocols under Department Order No. 6, Series of 2026, while conducting regional campus inspections to correct physical vulnerabilities.
Atillo emphasized that while quick searches involving physical contact by teachers remain strictly prohibited, comprehensive visual and bag inspections are now mandatory at all school gates.
"Frisking actually is not allowed by our system... [It] will only transpire if there is an authority, say for example a security guard or a member of the police force," Atillo said. "Pero kami mga magtutudlo (teachers) are not allowed to do so."
Under the guidelines, all entering students, teachers, civilian personnel, and visitors must submit their bags for visual inspection and present valid government identification.
Security personnel are also instructed to conduct "plain view" inspections of all vehicles entering school grounds. Anyone refusing mandatory entry checks will be denied campus access, with parents summoned for non-compliant students.
The reinforced security protocols follow heightened national concern over campus violence and active threat incidents. A nationwide simultaneous school safety drill was conducted across public schools on September 3, 2026, including participating campuses throughout the Davao Region. GRS
