Every public school in Dauin, Negros Oriental will now have barangay tanods stationed at its gates during the busiest and most vulnerable moments of the school day — from early morning arrival through lunchtime and final dismissal — under a directive that formally ties community peacekeepers to the protection of learners across the municipality.
Acting Municipal Mayor Alvin V. Truita signed Executive Order No. 2026-23, Series of 2026 on June 24, 2026, compelling all Punong Barangays in Dauin to deploy tanods to public elementary and secondary schools within their respective jurisdictions during defined duty windows each school day.
Three Mandatory Windows Each School Day
According to Executive Order No. 2026-23, the deployment schedule is structured around three critical periods. First, tanods must arrive at their assigned school at least 30 minutes before the opening bell and remain on post until all learners have entered the school premises. Second, they are required to be present throughout the designated lunch break period to maintain watchfulness over student movement. Third, they must return to their posts no later than 30 minutes before dismissal and stay until learners have fully dispersed from the immediate school vicinity.
The order, as issued by the Dauin municipal government, specifies that Punong Barangays must assign an adequate number of tanods — without capping the figure — so that coverage is genuinely sufficient for each school’s foot traffic and layout.
Tanod Responsibilities: Roads, Order, and Reporting
Under the executive order, tanods on school duty carry a clearly defined set of responsibilities. According to the directive, they are tasked with helping learners cross roads and highways safely and with managing the flow of both pedestrian and vehicular traffic near school entrances and exits — particularly during peak arrival and departure surges.
Beyond traffic management, the order requires tanods to uphold peace and order within the school perimeter. They are further directed to coordinate with school heads, the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) as situations demand, and to immediately escalate any security incident or untoward event to the appropriate authorities.
Coordination Between School Officials and Barangay Leaders
The executive order distributes coordination responsibilities between two sets of local officials. School heads are directed to work directly with their respective Punong Barangays to settle deployment schedules and assign specific duty posts within or around school grounds. On the barangay side, chairpersons are required to submit a complete roster of designated tanods to the Office of the Mayor for monitoring and record-keeping.
Oversight of the entire program falls to the Municipal Local Government Operations Office (MLGOO), which is tasked with monitoring compliance in coordination with the MDRRMO, the PNP, and the Department of Education (DepEd) Dauin District. The PNP was specifically called upon in the order to provide support to barangay chairpersons in deploying tanods effectively across their areas.
Legal Framework Behind the Directive
The Dauin municipal government anchored Executive Order No. 2026-23 in two legal instruments. The first is Section 16 of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991 — commonly referred to as the General Welfare Clause — which empowers local government units to enact measures promoting the well-being of their constituents. The second is DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2025-072, titled “Deployment of Barangay Tanods in Department of Education Schools,” which provides the national policy framework authorizing the placement of barangay peacekeepers within school vicinities.
By grounding the order in both a national statute and a DILG circular, the municipal government ensures the directive carries clear legal authority and aligns with policy directives from the national government.
The executive order takes effect immediately upon signing and remains operative unless subsequently amended or revoked by the municipal government.
Schools and Barangays Covered
The directive applies to all public elementary and secondary schools in Dauin, following the existing Dauin District School-Barangay arrangement. The covered school clusters and their corresponding barangays, as listed in the executive order, are as follows:
- Apo Elementary School / Apo Island High School — Apo Island
- Bagacay Elementary School / Froilan A. Alanano Memorial High School — Bagacay, Bunga
- Baslay Elementary School — Baslay, Batuhon Dacu, Casile
- Bulak Elementary School / Dauin Science High School — Bulak, Lipayo
- Casile Elementary School / Apolinar B. Macias Memorial High School — Casile, Batuhon Dacu, Tunga-tunga, Panubtuban
- Dauin Central School / Dauin National High School — Poblacion Districts I, II & III, Masaplod Norte, Lipayo
- Maayongtubig Elementary School — Maayongtubig
- Mag-aso Elementary School / Antonio B. Alejado Memorial High School — Mag-aso, Libjo, Magsaysay, Boloc-boloc, Panubtuban
- Magsaysay Elementary School — Magsaysay
- Malongcay Elementary School / Malongcay Dacu High School — Malongcay Dacu
- Masaplod Elementary School — Masaplod Sur, Masaplod Norte
- Panubtuban Elementary School — Panubtuban, Boloc-boloc
- Tugawe Elementary School — Tugawe, Libjo
By the Numbers
- 1 executive order issued — E.O. No. 2026-23, Series of 2026
- June 24, 2026 — date Acting Mayor Truita signed the directive
- 3 mandatory tanod deployment periods per school day
- 30 minutes — minimum advance reporting time required before school opening and before dismissal
- 13 school clusters covered under the Dauin District School-Barangay arrangement
- 2 legal instruments cited as basis: R.A. 7160 and DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2025-072
Why This Matters
Formalizing tanod deployments at all public schools in Dauin creates a structured, daily safety presence during the periods when children face the greatest exposure to traffic hazards and security risks — entering, moving through, and leaving school grounds. Grounding the measure in both the Local Government Code and a DILG national circular gives the directive firm legal standing and connects Dauin’s local action to a broader national framework for school safety. With compliance oversight shared among the MLGOO, MDRRMO, PNP, and DepEd Dauin District, the program functions as an integrated intergovernmental effort rather than an informal or ad-hoc arrangement.
Source: Breaking News Negros Oriental (breakingnewsnegrosoriental.com)
