MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have forged a partnership to strengthen school safety by deploying barangay tanods within school premises and integrating the agency into the country’s unified 911 emergency system amid incidents of school shootings and other threats.
The agreement is covered by a joint memorandum circular (JMC) signed by the two agencies on Oct. 14, when Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla led a joint school safety audit and drill at Bangkal High School in Makati City.
READ: DepEd to sign pact with DILG for tanod deployment in schools
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Under the JMC, schools can coordinate with barangays to request the deployment of barangay tanods — community peacekeepers — to maintain order and security within school perimeters as community safety partners.
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DepEd said that while barangay tanods will provide additional protection for students, they “will not replace school authorities or law enforcement, with orientations conducted to ensure alignment on child protection, learner rights, and school safety.”
Meanwhile, emergency response in schools will be facilitated by technology firm NGA Philippines, which will integrate DepEd into the DILG’s unified 911 system.
The DILG launched the unified emergency hotline in September 2025, consolidating more than 30 local emergency numbers into a single service.
READ: DepEd honors student who fought off Banga shooter
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According to NGA Philippines country head Robert Llaguno, the new emergency system will follow a parallel workflow process.
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“As emergencies happen, the report is sent simultaneously to both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the DepEd so they can respond jointly and make faster decisions about the call,” NGA Philippines said in a separate press release.
“The incident also gets processed and validated by the Department of Education’s central, regional and schools division offices, so report processing that normally takes weeks to complete can be finished in a day. Information storage is centralized,” it added. /das
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