MANILA, Philippines – San Jose National High School (SJNHS) in Tacloban City resumed classes two weeks after the fatal shooting that claimed the lives of three students and wounded 20 others on June 22, but many members of the community continue to feel trauma. 

SJNHS reopened last Monday, July 6. Walls were repainted while performers entertained students in a bid to help children recover from the tragedy. 

So far, students from Grades 7 and 8 have had in-person classes while Grades 9 and 10 implemented blended learning amid ongoing repairs to their classrooms, Education Undersecretary Malcolm Garma said in a Senate basic education committee hearing on Thursday, July 9. 

Garma said classrooms for Grades 9 and 10 were damaged after the shooting, which was carried out by two minors, aged 14 and 15.

According to the information he presented, there were 235 out of 336 Grade 7 students and 237 out of 369 Grade 8 students who have attended in-person classes.

Those not attending the face-to-face classes will be given learning modules and opportunities for online activities.

In a Philippine News Agency report, the Department of Education (DepEd) Tacloban City Schools Division said lower attendance is expected as some students continue to recover from the trauma, while others opt for a school transfer.

“The resumption of classes would somehow establish normalcy in the school and provide that level of confidence also to our parents and to the community that the school is safe,” Garma told senators in a mix of English and Filipino.

“And at the same time, it is really to remove the trauma, the psychosocial and emotional trauma that our teachers, our learners have experienced because of this incident,” he added. 

Garma said authorities improved the school’s security by providing more metal detectors and installing a walkthrough detector. There is also ongoing construction of a higher perimeter fence.

The two minors tagged in the incident are under the custody of the Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Youth in Tanauan, Leyte.

‘High-risk’ learners

Days after the June 22 shooting, the DepEd provided initial psychological first aid to learners, teachers, and parents in a span of three days.

Garma said that out of 603 students who already received psychological first aid, 38 were assessed to be “high-risk” for a mental health crisis.

Julienne Rose Peñaranda-Saballa, a registered guidance counselor of the DepEd Tacloban City Schools Division, said they continue to follow up and monitor both high-risk students and teachers. Saballa led the development of the initial psychological first aid response.

She said high-risk individuals are those who directly experienced the shooting or were deeply traumatized by it. They were attended to by psychiatrists during the initial psychosocial intervention.

“It is important to monitor and help these high-risk individuals to aid in their healing and recovery, so they can go back to their academics, and continue to hope for a brighter future where there is safety and security,” Saballa told Rappler.

She said high-risk individuals must continue with their psychiatric consultations and attend psychosocial activities that would help them heal and move forward.

“If not, it may affect them long-term, academically, personally, socially with the interactions with other people and the society, and in their perception of the world,” Saballa added.

Critical implementation of the law

During the Senate hearing, Garma said students who were recently discharged from the hospital and those who were not yet ready to undergo mental health services during the initial intervention are now undergoing psychological first aid.

The responsibility for providing the psychological first aid and other long-term interventions is with the DepEd Tacloban City Schools Division, especially since SJNHS does not have a licensed guidance counselor.

Saballa, who is from Leyte National High School and among the only three DepEd registered guidance counselors in the city, was tapped anew to provide psychological first aid services.

She said it is essential to ensure that Republic Act No. 12080, or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, would be implemented through reclassification of existing DepEd registered guidance counselors and hiring of school counselor associates.

The DepEd has yet to hire school counselor associates nearly two years after the law was signed in December 2024. – Rappler.com