DepEd to check schools for crime gang members
The Department of Education in Iloilo City will conduct an inspection of students from 11 public secondary schools in the city to determine if any of them are members of the youth crime gang True Brown Style.
City Schools Division Superintendent Erlinda Gencaya said their office will coordinate with the schools for the inspection.
They are also in the process of coordinating with private schools, she said.
According to the Iloilo City Police Office, gang members, who include high students, and can be identified through burn marks on their middle and little fingers.
Students found having these marks will be made to explain, Gencaya said.
She said parents of some arrested members are not aware of their children’s involvement in the criminal gang.
Gencaya asked the media to help disseminate information about the True Brown Style group for the awareness of parents and guardians.
In Iloilo City, there are 63 public schools, of which 52 are elementary and 11, secondary.
Meanwhile, the city has 90 private elementary and high schools.
Senior Supt. Dennis Basngi, city police director, had earlier said the True Brown Style group now has 65 high school and college members from different private and public schools.
Several of its members, including leader Alvin Dizon, were found responsible for the three hold-up incidents victimizing taxi drivers in La Paz and Jaro districts, Iloilo City and in Tigbauan, Iloilo.
Basngi had also said the gang members could be drug users as Dizon himself was found positive for illegal drugs.
‘No Going Out’
Gencaya said she has ordered schools to strictly observe “no-going-out policy” when classes start. Students will only be allowed to leave the school in cases of emergency, assisted by their parents or guardians or with permit from their advisers.
In last week’s meeting with school supervisors and principals, Gencaya said she emphasized that outsiders should not be allowed to go inside the school premises without important purpose.
She added that school principals should instruct security guards to scrutinize students coming in and out of the campus and to identify or familiarize themselves with the students enrolled in their schools.*
