CCPO worries about gang violence in public schools

LOCAL police in Cebu City suspect that youth gangs in public schools are making a comeback after they received reports that another student was mauled by teens inside the Regino Mercado Memorial National High School (RMMNHS) in Barangay Pahina-Central on Thursday night, Sept. 15, 2022.

Fearing that gang violence is on the rise in some public schools in the city, officials of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) are urging their personnel to coordinate with public schools under their jurisdiction in order to strengthen their security.

Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO’s deputy director for administration, said he has tasked personnel from the Carbon Police Station to coordinate with officials from RMMNHS to determine who was behind the mauling of one of its students.

According to an investigation report provided by the Carbon Police Station, the student was mauled because of his affiliation with a rival gang based inside the school.

Parilla said members of the rival Bloods and Crips gangs are reportedly involved in the incident, but they have yet to determine which gang the mauled student belonged to.

The incident came to the police’s attention after the school’s security guard was able to catch them in their violent act.

The students involved in the mauling have been identified and are set to be summoned by school officials for an internal probe.

Gang war brewing

Aside from what happened at the RMMNHS, CCPO officials are also investigating other gang-related incidents in some of the city’s public schools, including the alleged stabbing of a student at the Mabolo National High School on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022.