DepEd 7 chief urges school heads to beef up security following male teacher’s murder in City of Naga

THE head of the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd 7) has urged school heads to increase their security measures and advised teachers to go home as early as possible after work.

This after a male teacher, identified as June Leo Pañares, was found dead with stab wounds inside his school’s storage room in City of Naga, southern Cebu on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022.

DepEd 7 Director Salustiano Jimenez told SunStar Cebu on Monday, Oct. 17 that he immediately instructed the assigned superintendent in the area to look for possible motives and work hand in hand with the police regarding the matter when the discovery of the teacher’s body was reported to him Sunday.

Jimenez said they condemned what happened and they were really saddened by it, describing the incident as disturbing.

“It’s so disturbing. I can’t imagine the people who did that. The entire DepEd is disappointed by what had happened. We hope no other incidents like that happen again,” he said in a mix of Cebuano and English.

Pañares was a teacher at Inoburan High School in Barangay Inoburan, City of Naga.

Robbed

The victim, a resident of Barangay Tinaan in the city, was believed to have been robbed before he was killed.

Lt. Col. Junnel Caadlawon, chief of the City of Naga Police Station, said Simon Veto Cereño, a teacher, and Apple Tellaper found Pañares’ body on the floor covered by a bloodied blanket.

Caadlawon said they have reason to believe that two persons murdered the victim as the latter suffered several stab wounds.

Although they had no way of knowing how much money was taken from the victim, he said Pañares’ motorcycle was missing.

“Pirmi naman daw ni siya magabhian. Dunay mga batan-on lalaki ang iyang ikuyog (The victim was known to stay late after school with a group of boys),” Caadlawon said.

Caadlawon said they received information that the victim sent a chat message to several students telling them he was already in the faculty room with a group of boys on Saturday night, Oct. 15.

He said they will invite the students for questioning.

Advice to teachers

Jimenez said many teachers, particularly those assigned in schools in the hinterlands and the countryside, often opt to do overnight work, especially if they are preparing for an activity the following day.

But he said they had advised teachers not to do it.

“Generally, we do not require them (teachers) to be in school beyond 5 p.m. if they don’t have classes, especially during the weekends, unless they are tasked to do something,” Jimenez said.

“Our Vice President and Secretary Sara Duterte said that if possible, teachers should go home early and spend time with their families. Maybe he went there (school) to get something, but we cannot say for sure what he was doing there,” he added.

Following the incident, Jimenez said he instructed school heads to coordinate with their local government units and barangays so they could be provided with more security, particularly at night and weekends when schools are closed. (HIC, GPL / PJB)