Government funds lost to anomalous flood control projects could have funded a world-class security system across Philippine schools, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Remulla estimated that establishing a state-of-the-art nationwide CCTV network in schools would require around ₱20 billion, with an initial first-year outlay of ₱5 billion.
“If in the Philippines we put up an entire CCTV system that is comparable to the best in class in the world, it would cost us maybe P20 billion to put (up) an entire (CCTV school) system. And imagine if you didn’t have the flood control (irregularity), they could have put it there,’’ Remulla said.
His proposal comes in the wake of escalating campus violence, including an August 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University that left a senior high school student and the gunman dead.
To curb further violence, the Interior chief urged lawmakers to amend Republic Act 8294 and classify illegal gun possession as a non-bailable offense, pointing out that unlicensed firearms account for 98 percent of gun-related crimes in the country.