NATIONAL Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Officer-in-Charge, Brigadier General Christopher N. Abrahano on Thursday led the opening of the 1st Metro Manila School Safety and Security Summit 2026 aimed at better addressing actual and online shooting threats in metropolitan public and private learning facilities.
The official said the two-day summit intends to establish a common and coordinated approach to school safety, particularly in light of recent school-shooting incidents and other threats that highlight the need for stronger prevention, preparedness, and emergency response.
“The safety of our students and school personnel is a shared responsibility. This summit is an opportunity for the police, schools, government agencies, and communities to sit together, identify vulnerabilities, strengthen our systems, and agree on concrete measures that can save lives during an emergency,” Brig. Gen. Abrahano said.
The summit also aims to provide a common understanding of recent school-shooting cases in the Philippines, identify vulnerabilities in Metro Manila campuses, and strengthen mechanisms for monitoring, reporting, and assessing violent online content and possible radicalization, the official added.
It likewise focuses on standardizing police-school coordination and emergency communication, promoting responsible firearm storage among individuals and families, strengthening contingency and emergency-response planning, and developing practical campus safety and threat-prevention measures, said the NCRPO head.
The summit at the Crossroads Center in Diliman, Quezon City brings together school officials, law enforcement agencies, and key government stakeholders to strengthen the protection of students, teachers, and school communities against active threats and other emergencies.
With the theme ‘Safe Schools, Secure Communities: Preparing, Preventing and Responding to Active Threats in Metro Manila Schools,’ the summit is being attended by representatives from various public and private schools across Metro Manila, as well as concerned government agencies, including the Office of Civil Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Commission on Human Rights, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Commission on Higher Education, National Police Commission, and Anti-Terrorism Council.
Brig. Gen. Abrahano said the summit will build on existing NCRPO initiatives on school safety, including stronger police-school coordination, campus safety awareness, emergency preparedness, and the promotion of ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) as a set of response options during active-threat situations.
The NCRPO chief emphasized that the goal is not simply to increase security presence in schools but to develop a comprehensive Metro Manila School Safety and Security Framework anchored on prevention, early reporting, coordinated response, and continuous preparedness.
The summit is expected to produce concrete mechanisms and protocols, including a Joint Circular on the Protocol for Responding to Active Attacks in Schools; NCRPO–School Active Threat Response Protocol; Standardized School Security Vulnerability Checklist; School Emergency Contact and Coordination Directory; Threat-Reporting and Referral Framework; Recommended Minimum and Maximum Security Measures; a schedule of joint NCRPO-school exercises; and the establishment of NCRPO-school focal persons for Metro Manila campuses.
It will likewise produce a Metro Manila School Security Outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026, hich will help guide police and school authorities in addressing emerging threats and security concerns.
Brig. Gen. Abrahano said their initiative is consistent with the direction of the DILG-PNP leaderships who have emphasized stronger preparedness, immediate reporting of threats, and enhanced first-responder capabilities in protecting school communities.
PNP chief, General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. has ordered all police commanders to strengthen school safety, improve coordination with school authorities, and ensure that threats and incidents involving students are properly assessed, investigated, and addressed.
Brig. Gen. Abrahano added that the summit should result in actionable measures, not merely discussions, with police districts and school authorities expected to translate the agreements into regular coordination, vulnerability assessments, emergency drills, threat reporting, and joint exercises.
“Our children deserve schools where they can learn without fear. We will continue working with our partners to make every Metro Manila campus safer, more prepared, and more resilient against any threat,” he said.
