The Department of Education in Negros Occidental will provide psychological intervention for students and teachers of a high school in Hinoba-an, who witnessed their principal go on a shooting rampage on Tuesday, April 12.
Principal Warren L. Escobar, 56, shot and killed teacher Almarisa A. Arroy and her husband, Christopher, both 35 years old, at the Bilbao-Uybico National High School in Barangay Pook before taking his own life at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Maj. John Ganzon, the town police chief, said.
There were about 100 students attending face-to-face classes and their teachers who were at the school at the time of the shooting, DepEd Negros Occidental spokesman Ian Arnold Arnaez said Wednesday.
“DepEd Negros Occidental is working closely with other agencies and offices in dealing with the situation. We also commit to bring back normalcy in the school community by providing psychological interventions to the students and personnel who witnessed and are affected by the tragedy,” a press statement from Arnaez said Wednesday.
The DepEd Negros Occidental is deeply saddened by the tragic shooting incident in Hinoba-an, the statement said.
“DepEd Negros Occidental strongly condemns all forms of violence occurring particularly in schools. We commit to the principle that schools are zones of peace where the safety and well-being of learners and personnel are of utmost importance,” it added.
Given that the case is now under investigation, DepEd Neg. Occ. will not preempt the result and will await the official pronouncements of the Philippine National Police, it said.
The DepEd Negros Occidental offered its condolences to the bereaved families for the loss of their loved ones. “We are one with them in this darkest moment of their lives,” it said.
The DepEd appealed to its partners, personnel and the public – to exercise prudence in expressing their views and opinions on the incident out of respect to the families of the victims.
The Arroys are survived by two sons aged 10 and 3 years old.
A relative of Almarisa said they are in a quandary because with the couple dead they do not know where they will get the funds needed for the care of the boys.
The principal is believed to have killed the Arroys because Almarisa had filed a sexual harassment complaint against him, the police said.
The relative said several other teachers were also allegedly sexually harassed by the principal.*