By Aaron B. Recuenco
Director General Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, has ordered all police commanders to deploy at least two policemen in every public school for the resumption of classes on Monday.
All police commanders, according to Albayalde, were also tasked to set up Police Assistance Desks, near the main gate of every public schools, for immediate response to concerns such as bullying.
“Each school, there should be a minimum of two policemen that would man the assistance desks. We expect the deployment two to three days before the class opening,” said Albayalde.
Albayalde said the presence of policemen at the vicinity of schools will surely discourage criminals from preying on students. “Their presence is necessary for safety of the students and extra manpower for any concerns of the students and teachers,” said Albayalde.
Albayalde has left the decision to the commanders when to pull out the policemen deployed to secure the class opening. “If they see that the situation already normalizes after the class opening, then they could already leave,” said Albayalde.
