The Department of Education (DepEd) has been integrated into the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Unified 911 system, allowing police and education officials to process school emergency reports simultaneously and coordinate responses to incidents such as campus violence and shootings.
The integration uses emergency response technology provided by public safety technology company NGA 911, including voice and video communications that allow callers and responders to exchange information and share photos and videos during an incident.
NGA 911 Philippines country head Robert Llaguno said the system establishes a parallel workflow between the Philippine National Police (PNP) and DepEd, enabling both agencies to receive reports at the same time and coordinate decisions and response efforts.
The system also allows DepEd’s central, regional, and schools division offices to process and validate incident reports through a centralized information system. Llaguno said procedures that previously took weeks could be completed within a day.
The integration was discussed during a school safety audit and emergency drill at Bangkal National High School in Makati City on Oct. 14, led by Department of Education secretary Sonny Angara and Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla in observance of National School Safety Week.
Angara and Remulla also signed a joint memorandum circular allowing local government units to deploy barangay tanods to school premises to augment security, particularly in schools without professional security personnel.
Under the agreement, schools may coordinate with barangays to request additional personnel to help maintain order and security within school perimeters. The tanods are expected to work with school authorities and law enforcement while observing child protection requirements and learners’ rights.
An active-shooter drill was also conducted at the school to simulate how students, teachers, and security personnel should respond to a shooting incident.
Llaguno said effective emergency response requires coordination among national and local governments, private and public organizations, and civilian and uniformed personnel.
The DepEd-DILG integration is intended to improve information-sharing and coordination during school emergencies, although the announcement did not specify a nationwide implementation timeline or provide response-time targets for the system.
