Police to conduct school visitations
Personnel from the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) will visit the different public elementary schools in the city to create awareness among teachers and elementary pupils on how to prevent crime.
ICPO's Police Community Relations chief Senior Inspector Lourdes Banzuelo said the dialog is meant to prepare the students, parents and teachers in the event lawless elements strike in schools. It is primarily meant to teach pupils on what to do and same time remind the parents and school officials of their responsibilities in protecting the students.
Cases of cell phone snatching and pickpockets are the common problems encountered by police during the school opening. Parents let their kids bring mobile phones in school that makes them an automatic target of snatchers. There are also pupils who, in early age, go to school wearing jewelries, said Banzuelo.
She explained children in primary grades must be briefed on how the criminals work. They can easily get the children's attention and trust, she said.
The police will distribute flyers on crime prevention during their visit in schools.
The schools are also encouraged to hire security guards to protect the students as well as the school's properties. The hiring of security guards should be deliberated and approved by the parents and teachers association (PTA). The school could not afford to seek the services of blue guards. The PTA's intervention in hiring security guards is one way of expressing their participation and support to the school, said Banzuelo.
The presence of the blue guards is important especially with the no-uniform policy of the Department of Education (Dep Ed). It will be difficult to determine on whether the pupils who are inside the school are enrolled and students of the school. It will be a wiser idea for pupils especially those in the second grade to wear their uniforms aside from their identification cards for easy identification.
The no uniform policy is one issue that school officials and PTA needs to address. This early, there are teachers in the city that are wary on what happens when the school year starts. There are schools that are near the crowded streets and have the most number of elementary pupils, said Banzuelo.
Parents must also be briefed on the measures that they need to practice whenever they leave their house and bring their kids to school. All the doors must be locked before leaving the house. Residential houses with no one left around are the target of the Akyat Bahay gang, said Banzuelo.
Meanwhile, Banzuelo also reminds shoppers to take extra precaution while in the streets and inside the mall. Pickpockets might take advantage of the situation, she said.