Bacolod probes use of ‘colored smoke’ that affected some BCC students

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – The local government here is urging schools here to strengthen its measures to prevent students or any person from bringing dangerous or harmful substances into the schools’ premises.

This, after some students of the Bacolod City College (BCC) main campus in Barangay Taculing, suffered difficulty of breathing when they reportedly inhaled colored smoke from a pyrotechnic device during an activity at the school’s activity center last Monday.

Initially, at least 22 persons were reported to have been affected.

Atty. Pacifico Maghari III, city administrator, said that five students and two personnel of the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) detailed at the school were examined after they felt ill.

Of the seven, one student is confined in a private hospital here and is now stable, while others were already discharged, he added.

Maghari said that it was supposed to be a class activity when one group used colored smoke in their presentation.

“We are waiting for the incident report, and the school is conducting an investigation about this,” he added.

Maghari said that it was an innocent experiment of the students.

“We don’t want this to happen again,” Maghari said, adding that more measures are being taken to prevent this from happening.

In fact, Maghari said the school is implementing bag inspection to ensure that no harmful substances will be allowed entry into the school.

“Why was that substance needed that created the smoke?” Maghari asked, adding that teachers should have screened the materials used by the students.

Maghari noted that there should be a closer review and monitoring of the activities.

“This is a wake-up call for students, schools’ administration, and teachers to be more vigilant,” he said.

He stressed that there should also be precautionary measures in schools here.