Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso has signed Executive Order No. 29, Series of 2026, officially titled the “Manila Schools Safety Initiative,” creating the Manila School and Community Safety Task Force, a citywide body tasked with preventing armed violence and mass-casualty incidents in schools and public spaces.
“Our policy is simple: Remove illegal guns. Act on every warning sign. Prepare every school. Manila will not wait for a tragedy before taking action,” Domagoso said in his “State of the City Address” on Wednesday, June 24.
The order, signed and made effective on June 24, 2026, adopts a prevention-first approach built on three principles: eliminating illegal firearms and armed threats, acting on every credible warning sign of violence, and preparing every school and community for emergency response.
The Task Force will be chaired by the Mayor or the City Administrator and composed of the Manila Police District (MPD) director, the Schools Division Office of Manila (SDO-Manila), heads of the Manila Department of Social Welfare (MDSW), Manila Health Department (MHD), and the Manila City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department (MCDRRMD), the Liga ng mga Barangay president, the City Legal Officer, the City Public Information Officer, the Chief of Staff, and representatives from private schools, parent associations, and youth organizations. The Office of the Chief of Staff will serve as its secretariat.
“The Task Force shall serve as the City’s coordinating body for violence prevention, threat assessment, school safety, and emergency preparedness,” the order read, adding that it is tasked to monitor emerging threats against schools, public gatherings, and critical facilities, and to submit quarterly reports to the Office of the Mayor.
Under the order, the MPD is directed to intensify operations against loose firearms, illegal gun trafficking, and armed criminal groups, designate a School and Youth Safety Coordinator, and create a Threat Monitoring and Assessment Desk to evaluate reports of potential violence.
“The Manila Police District shall intensify operations against loose firearms, illegal gun trafficking, gun-for-hire groups, and armed criminal networks,” the order stated, directing the MPD to maintain direct communication channels with all public school clusters and barangays, and to submit monthly reports on illegal firearm operations and preventive interventions undertaken.
The SDO-Manila, for its part, is directed to establish School Safety and Threat Assessment Teams in every school district, implement standardized procedures for reporting threats and weapons possession, strengthen counseling and behavioral intervention programs, and conduct at least two emergency preparedness exercises and one lockdown drill per academic year.
“DepEd Manila shall implement standardized procedures for reporting and assessing threats of violence, possession of weapons, and alarming behavioral indicators,” the order read, also directing every public school to designate a School Safety Focal Person.
The order also directs SDO-Manila and the MPD to jointly conduct a School Safety Audit of all public schools within 90 days of the order’s effectivity, covering physical security, access control, evacuation routes, communications capability, and existing emergency response plans.
“Recommendations shall be submitted to the Office of the Mayor for immediate action,” the order stated.
All barangays, meanwhile, are directed to support violence prevention efforts and coordinate with local police and school authorities.
“All barangays are directed to support violence prevention initiatives, encourage responsible reporting of threats and illegal firearms, and maintain coordination with local police and school authorities,” the order read.
The order sets a 180-day timeline for all public schools to have updated emergency response plans, all school districts to have functioning Threat Assessment Teams, all barangays to designate School Safety Coordinators, and for the Manila Police District to have its Threat Monitoring and Assessment Desk fully operational.
