SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur (MindaNews/8 January) —Schoolchildren at the Alegria Elementary School didn’t scream, didn’t freeze, didn’t bolt during the earthquake Wednesday.
When the ground began to shake at about 11 AM on January 7, the children did what they had practiced only weeks ago–they dropped low, protected their heads, and followed their teachers out in an orderly line, carrying the memory of the previous month’s drill like a set of instructions their bodies could follow even before their minds caught up.
Teacher Regine Lagutom said the difference was simple: the drill was still fresh.
“We just practiced the drill last month, held by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and it is still fresh what should be done in case of this occurrence,” Lagutom said in an online interview with MindaNews.
Outside, the pupils gathered in an open area. Some looked nervous, but no one panicked. Lagutom kept her voice steady and her instructions clear, reminding them that safety didn’t end the moment they got out of the classroom. They stayed low, stayed alert, and stayed together.
Unlike other nearby schools, Alegria Elementary did not suspend classes, Lagutom said. A few parents came to fetch their children, but the day didn’t collapse into chaos.
“Everything turned to normal after the quake,” she added.
Not far away, the reaction was different.
Classes were suspended at Agusan del Sur National High School (ASNHS) and the adjacent San Francisco Central Elementary School, as learners were sent home soon after the tremor. The decision, school officials said, was precautionary—shaped by memory.
It was hard to forget what happened during the strong quake that struck on October 10, when the rush to get out reportedly caused students to faint amid fear and confusion.
“We raced towards one of the doors of our classroom on the third floor,” a Grade 9 student recalled.
In earthquake response, the body often remembers what the mind tries to forget. One school’s calm can be another school’s stampede, depending on what the last emergency felt like—and how well the next drill prepares people to move as one.
That lesson played out vividly last year in Bayugan City, when a routine drill at Bayugan National Comprehensive High School (BNCHS) suddenly stopped being practice.
The moment was documented by Grade 11 student Jenro Mark Calo Jalop, associate editor of The Horizon, the school’s official publication. In his feature titled Drill Turns Real: M7.4 Quake Strikes BNCHS Amid Earthquake Drill, Jalop described how students had just completed a drill at 9:30 a.m. and were returning to their classrooms when the tremor struck at 9:43 a.m. on Friday morning, October 10.
The drill was part of preparations for an upcoming Gawad Kalasag evaluation, a national recognition for excellence in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. But the campus didn’t have the luxury of staying inside a checklist.
As the quake hit, Jalop reported that several two- and three-storey buildings on the BNCHS campus visibly swayed. Students and teachers tried to evacuate—but fear moved faster than planning. The stairways tightened. The shouting began. A stampede followed.
Grade 12 student Reliame Mandang-ulan, interviewed by Jalop, remembered how quickly training disappeared under pressure.
“I wasn’t able to follow what we practiced, and no one really did. The shaking was too strong, and panic instantly filled the air. Everyone was screaming—some ran, others froze. My heart was pounding so fast, I didn’t know what to do first,” she said.
This week’s quake, Jalop said in an interview on Monday, felt different. There was no same wave of panic, and no damage was recorded. The school, he said, has since strengthened its systems—building student capacity to respond when adults and structures are stretched thin.
He said BNCHS has established Project READY and Psychological-Social First Aid, where selected students were trained to keep learners safe when the system falls short.
“The training was intended for students to respond immediately to emergencies if the school nurses are not around,” Jalop said.
Across the region, moments of shaking brought moments of uncertainty.
But in a public school yard in Barangay Alegria, the clearest takeaway was visible in the simplest thing: a line of children listening, breathing, and following directions—proof that a drill, done well and remembered well, can turn fear into movement, and movement into safety. (Chris V. Panganiban / MindaNews)
