Manila condemns school shooting

The Department of Education has condemned the recent school shooting in Pangasinan that killed four people and wounded three others, as it expressed concern over the trauma endured by students who witnessed the incident.

“We at DepEd [ Department of Education] condemn all forms of violence especially as they occur in schools. We maintain that schools are zones of peace where the safety and wellbeing of students, teachers, and personnel are of utmost importance,” the department said in an statement.

On Monday, Police Officer 3 Domingo Alipio, reportedly opened fire while inside the Pangasinan National High School ( PNHS) in Lingayen town in Ilocos Region killing four people — teachers Florenda Flores, Acidello Sison, Linda Sison and Jonalito Urayan. Three others were wounded.

Urayan was reportedly a debt collector who worked for Alipio.

The DepEd said that it would not allow such incidents to take place inside in an area that is supposedly secure from acts of violence in an act perpetrated by a person who is expected to uphold the peace.

Bloodiest incident

The incident had been the bloodiest so far to take place within a Philippine school campus.

Superintendant Reynante Panay, officer- in- charge of the Lingayen police, was quoted in reports as saying that Alipio barged into one of the rooms at the PNHS on Monday afternoon, around 4pm, before confronting the three teachers about their unsettled debts.

“When the suspect couldn’t collect from Flores and from the teachers, the suspect got mad prompting him to go on shooting spree,” the state news agency PNA quoted Panay as saying.

Alipio was eventually apprehended by policemen fromthe Lingayen station.