Auntie Climactic

We should be talking about the more important things—like understanding why and how adolescents access arms during academic hours with the intent to inflict injury and death, and how we can prevent this vile violence from occurring again. Instead, the focus has turned to pushing back against controversial comments declared on the sidelines.

I understand—it’s disrespectful, offensive, in bad taste, and inappropriate. It was not the right time for such an opinion. I understand that we can’t just sit by while a high-ranking government official maligns an entire sector, especially teachers. But the most we should do is call her out and state that the comment was in bad taste.

If we look back at the statement, it was vaguely veiled:

"Minsan na po nating nakita, mismo ang ibang mga guro lumalabag sa mga ganitong klase ng moralidad, sila mismo ay nagtuturo sa mga estudyante kung paano maging walang modo lalo na sa mga matatanda or sa ibang tao.”

She doesn’t specify when such events happened because she uses the word "minsan" (sometimes). She doesn’t clearly point to a specific person or group either, using "ang ibang mga guro" (other teachers). A teacher could easily respond, "I'm not one of them," and go back to doing their job.

That’s the problem with pushing back against an ambiguous statement: because the words themselves are not specific, their direction can easily be deflected. The source can simply respond with "it’s not about you" and continue singing "You're So Vain" à la Carly Simon. With respect and sensitivity to the offended party, I think we should just take it with a grain of salt.

Another point of consideration is timing. Imagine the structure of my home has been compromised. Calamities have struck, and now another has hit. I have to find a serious solution, so the cracks don't spread. While we are grieving, analyzing, and brainstorming solutions, a neighbor who owns a mansion down the road stops by to make a snide remark: "It's probably the fault of the people who live there." Yes, we should call her out. But I would not dwell on it or give her too much of my energy when I should be focusing on how to fix my compromised home. Taking her to court won't fix my house. What happens if five Auntie Claires make sarcastic comments—should we abandon our real problems to gang up on them? We would end up ignoring the issue that truly needs attention.

Refocusing on where our attention should be: DepEd proposed, scheduled, and subsequently postponed a "Nationwide Simultaneous School Safety Drill for Active Attack Incidents." This exercise was meant to simulate active-threat scenarios to train students, teachers, and law enforcement on lockdown and evacuation protocols. In essence, we would be treating school shooting incidents by students similarly to natural disasters like earthquakes or fires.

While a fire or earthquake is an unpredictable force of danger we must shield ourselves from, potential perpetrators—or children in conflict with the law—are human beings. They are people we can reason with, who can make the choice not to take a Glock 22 or a converted handgun from a home gun safe, divert their frustrations elsewhere, and refrain from violence. They are people, not earthquakes or fires. We ought to address them as persons.

The Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PSCAP) urged DepEd to defer the exercises. Experts warned that exposing traumatized students to hyper-realistic simulations of gunfire so soon after the Zamboanga attack could trigger severe trauma rather than build safety. That makes sense; the drill idea could ultimately be counterproductive.

Here is an idea (though it might ruffle some feathers): track or pay special attention to the children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren of uniformed personnel and government agents who are issued firearms. This doesn't have to be public, nor should it involve public shaming or overt surveillance. However, placing preventive attention and mental health check-ins on these youth makes practical sense because they are the demographics with direct, immediate physical access to high-caliber weapons.

Furthermore, the PNP, AFP, BOC, and every other agency that issues firearms to its agents could require strict, mandatory re-education programs on safe storage. Weapons should never be left unsecured where minors can reach them, under any circumstances. Lastly, making it a clear criminal offense for gun owners to improperly store firearms or to teach unauthorized minors how to handle advanced weaponry could be a vital, decisive step forward.

Proverbs 12:20

"Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy."