PANEL APPROVES BILL ON CAMPUS SAFETY

Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and ABAMIN Partylist Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. filed HB 6649 or the Campus Safety and Security bill in response to the spate of incidents of violence inside campuses of various universities and schools across the nation.

“Students and their parents should always feel safe and are entitled to have a safe and secure environment when pursuing their studies,” the authors of HB 4469 said in the explanatory note of the bill, emphasizing that the State and the different educational institutions are duty-bound to ensure that students and everyone in their campuses are always safe.

Under the bill, a university-based CPC that will be created shall be tasked to enforce stronger university and educational institutional policies on security.

Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, gave his support for the bill and suggested the inclusion of the definition of academic freedom in the measure, not only for consistency and uniformity but also for the promotion of students’ freedom of expression.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co expressed her concern regarding the membership of the CPC, calling for representatives from the student council, faculty, or the non-academic personnel to be included as members of the CPC.

She made the manifestation to ensure that the inputs of these school stakeholders are also considered in promoting safety and freedom within campus surroundings.

The committee then approved the bill, subject to style and amendments, as discussed during the meeting.