By URIEL C. QUILINGUING
Contributing Editor
THE City Schools Division Office has received no formal complaint against the Oro Christian Grace School pertaining to the Jan. 30 accidental shooting of a female 7th grader inside the campus, an official of the Department of Education (Deped) said Tuesday.
Schools division superintendent Cherry Mae Limbaco, however, said that, in the absence of a formal complaint, her office took cognizance of the incident and brought the matter to the Office of the Regional Director of the education department for appropriate action.
A copy of the OCGS “official statement on the gun-firing incident that occurred on January 30, 2020” was attached to the schools division’s endorsement letter, dated Feb. 12, 2020, and addressed to Dr. Arturo Bayocot, Deped director for northern Mindanao.
“It’s not within our power to act on it since accreditation and recognition of schools are functions of the regional office,” said Limbaco.
She said she and the school’s principal discussed what happened only on Saturday afternoon and she advised that the victim and perpetrator, both minors, should be treated with utmost care.
“Officially, we were not informed by the school,” said Limbaco who opined that there were lapses on the part of school’s security group, and on how the school responded to accidental shooting.
The school has tightened security measures. Metal detector gadgets are now being used and the school has gone strict on its no-ID-no-entry and school-uniform policies.
Limbaco said education officials also took note of the ongoing investigation by the Office of the Provost Marshal of the Army on how the son of a military official was able to bring a firearm and an explosive on separate occasions.
She said that while the education department, through its regional office, accredits and recognizes schools, particularly the privately-owned, the issuance of business permits rests on the city government.
“It’s up to the City Council to review the business permit of OCGS and other schools,” said the Deped official, adding that OCGS is just one of over a hundred privately-owned educational institutions that offer basic education in this part of the country.
Founded over three decades ago, OCGS in Biasong Tinib, Barangay Macasandig has been operating as a non-stock, non-profit educational institution, and is a ministry of the Cagayan Gospel Church.
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