PNHS teacher cited for gunman’s surrender
LINGAYEN—A teacher who was instrumental not only in securing the safety of her students but in the surrender of a policeman who went on a shooting rampage at the Pangasinan National High School (PNHS) campus was cited Monday in simple ceremonies at the police provincial command here.
Evangeline Sevidal received her citation from P/Sr. Superintendent Reynaldo Biay, officer-in-charge at the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office (PPPO), for the surrender of PO3 Domino Alipio who barged inside her classroom after killing three teachers and a loan collector and wounding three other teachers inside the school premises on Sept. 1.
Alipio went berserk after he failed to collect payment of loan he lent to some teachers.
Biay said Sevidal’s “very stable presence of mind and courageously faced Alipio and convinced him to calm down and give himself up to responding policemen” paved the way for his arrest.
PNHS teacher Evangeline Sevidal receives her citation from the Pangasinan Police Office’s officer-in-charge P/Sr. Supt. Reynaldo Biay. (Photo by Tita Roces)
Recalling what happened during the massacre, the worst that happened in Pangasinan school, Sevidal said she thought it was the end of the world for her and her students.
She recalled how she pleaded with Alipio, “Huwag mo kaming idamay, single parent po ako at itong mga batang ito walang kasalanan… meron pa silang future.”
She added that as a teacher, the school is her second home and the students are her second children whom she has to protect.
Sevidal said she shares the citation with her 55 students who were with her when Alipio barged into their classroom.
She narrated how Alipio confessed that he realized his future had been shattered for what he did and thought about the welfare of his three children.
She added she and her students have overcome the trauma brought by the tragic incident as evidenced by her students’ daily postings on their freedom wall describing their feelings and lessons about the tragedy. “Keep calm. Give your best as if it’s your last” and “After the rain, the sun will shine”.
Also cited in last week’s flag raising ceremony at the police provincial command were policemen from Tayug and San Nicolas police stations for the capture last week of three detainees who escaped from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Cabarroguis, Quirino on Sept. 10. ((Tita Roces, Johanne R. Macob)
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