TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines — Amid a heightened nationwide push for tighter campus security, local law enforcers intercepted deadly weapons inside a public school in northern Luzon.Police confiscated a loaded firearm and a bladed weapon from minor students during a security inspection at the Aparri School of Arts and Trades (ASAT) in Aparri, Cagayan.
The discovery unfolded on Friday, June 26, as law enforcement units systematically stepped up campus visibility following the tragic mass school shooting in Tacloban City earlier in the week.
Personnel from the 1st Mobile Force Platoon of the 2nd Cagayan Provincial Mobile Force Company, led by Police Senior Master Sgt. Ericson A. Bermendi, were initially visiting the school to coordinate an anti-bullying lecture. While at the principal’s office, they encountered three students who had been summoned by School Principal III Edgar Garcia regarding an active on-campus commotion.
When Garcia requested the teenagers to voluntarily empty their backpacks as a security precaution, the inspection yielded illicit contraband:
[ APARRI SCHOOL WEAPON SEIZURE REGISTER ]
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┌───────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[ THE RECOVERED FIREARM ] [ THE BLADED WEAPON ]
• **The Contraband:** A 15-year-old Grade 10 student (identified • **The Contraband:** A 14-year-old student (identified under
under the alias “Mushly”) yielded a homemade, improvised • the alias “Jake”) pulled a kitchen knife directly from his
**.38-caliber revolver**. • school bag.
• **Live Ammunition:** A subsequent physical check by the responding• **The Third Learner:** A third student, alias “Mike,” was also
officers revealed the revolver was fully loaded with **two rounds• searched during the office intervention, but no prohibited items
of live ammunition** wrapped inside a face towel. • were recovered from his bag.
Upon interrogation by Aparri Municipal Police investigators, the minor students admitted they brought the weapons into the academic facility for protection, citing long-running, personal grudges and feuds with rival local youth groups. School administrators also informed authorities that the involved learners had established a pattern of frequently skipping and cutting classes.
[ THE CAMPUS DEFENSE ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOL ] │ ▼[ Social Custody ] ──► Because the individuals involved are minors, police immediately summoned their parents before turning the students over to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) for counseling. │ ▼[ Legal Review ] ──► Authorities are evaluating potential structural infractions under **Republic Act No. 10591** (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act) and **Batas Pambansa Blg. 6** (Banned Weapons Regulation). │ ▼[ Heightened Patrol ]──► Aparri Police Chief Major Junneil Perez confirmed that concurrent safety inspections and anti-bullying lectures were rapidly executed at adjacent campuses, including Aparri West National High School.
The weapon recovery in Cagayan directly coincides with an absolute zero-tolerance security directive issued by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. In the wake of the devastating June 22 Tacloban shooting—which left three learners dead and 20 others wounded—the PNP and the Department of Education (DepEd) have launched community-oriented, preventive bag checks and localized metal detector rollouts across vulnerable districts.
By coordinating rapid-response networks and placing approachable, visible mobile force units near school gates, regional directors aim to deter potential copycat acts of violence and assure anxious parents that public classrooms will remain strictly shielded, secure spaces for learning.