MANILA – The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Thursday demanded higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country to have a clear security and safety plan for its students and personnel. During the Laging Handa public briefing, CHED chairperson J Prospero de Vera III underscored the importance of keeping schools safe. “Top universities around the world ay mayroon nang safety and security plan. Naka-print iyan, may mga mapa at kasama sa orientation ng mga estudyante (have safety and security plan. It’s printed, it has maps and it’s included in the student’s orientation),” he said. De Vera said a safety and security plan is a printed document showing an overview of the security situation inside the campus. It must contain crime statistics, a list of on-campus crimes, risky or unsafe areas within the campus, recommended routes for students and faculties, and response instructions in case there is a present threat, he added. Although several universities have their safety plans, De Vera argued that it must be improved to be applicable on a day-to-day basis. “Iyong ating mga safety and security plan ng ibang pamantasan, ang focus ay noong panahon ng disaster -safety during disaster and after disaster. Kailangan iyong safety and security ay pang-araw-araw, kahit na walang disaster, dapat ligtas at safe ang lahat (Some of the safety and security plan of other institutions are focused on disasters, safety during and post-disaster. What we need is for everyday safety and security, that even though there’s no disaster, everyone is safe),” he said. Besides the security and safety plan, De Vera also urged HEIs to invest in technologies, such as the purchase of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, to be deployed across campus premises. De Vera made these recommendations following the recently reported sexual assault incident against a young female student inside the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus in Quezon City. “This (sexual assault risk) is not a new problem because I have been talking about this for about three years now, but my proposals have not been seriously studied by universities,” he said. “Ang medyo masakit, kailangan pang mayroong ma-sexual assault na bata para tutukan ulit natin kung ano ba ang solusyon sa problema (What’s more painful is that a sexual assault against a child must be first reported before we look into the solutions to the problem),” he added. Meanwhile, the UP Diliman has vowed to coordinate with police authorities to speed up the investigation, as it assured to provide adequate intervention to the student victim-survivor and deploy more security personnel inside its campus. (PNA)
Source: Philippines News Agency