LEYTE (1st District) Rep. Ferdinand Martin ‘FM’ G. Romualdez yesterday said school officials should reassess their security guidelines following an attack on a University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD) student inside the University Student Council (USC) office housed in Vinzon’s Hall.

“I believe it is high time for our educational institutions to review their security policy to spare the students from violence,” said Romualdez.

Romualdez explained that protection of students should be the “first and foremost consideration of school officials” so that “their rights and welfare are protected all the time.”

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, agreed with Romualdez that all campuses need to be boosted to better protect students from violence as he denounced the incident in UP.

Angara was referring to the stabbing of Lordei Camille Anjuli Hina, a fourth year Political Science major and student leader who was reportedly attacked by a robber with three other accomplices.

“Lordei shouldn’t have suffered this ordeal -- no student should. I can only imagine how harrowing this experience must have been for her and her family,” said Angara. “My prayers and sympathies are with them.”

As of press time yesterday, Hina is still in critical condition at the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) at Capitol Medical Center.

He continued, “It begs to be asked though -- If this can happen in a supposedly guarded building in broad daylight, how much more at night in dark streets when students walk back to their dorms? If this can happen in the country’s premier university in the middle of the city, how much more in campuses outside the metropolis? Angara asked.

He noted that the number of regular security guards at UP Diliman was slashed from 149 in 2011 to 111 in 2012.

Angara was one of the authors and sponsors of the Anti-Bullying Act of 2012, which mandates elementary and secondary schools to formulate and implement anti-bullying guidelines. 

“A bill on campus safety and prevention of violence complements the Anti-Bullying Act,” he stressed. “With these two measures in place, we can assure that our schools are doing everything they can to protect our children and keep their campuses safe from harm.”