Butuan City, Agusan del Norte - With recent reports on shooting incidents and other emergencies such as fire and earthquakes in schools in various parts of the country, the security and safety of students has become an increasingly urgent concern.
In Caraga Region, a group of junior high school students from Philippine Science High School-Caraga Campus developed a school emergency management platform called Ligtas Skwela, which aims to properly account for every student during an emergency.
This technology won first place among the nine finalists of the Startup Technology Pitching Competition - Student Category held in Butuan City as part of the Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) celebration in Caraga on August 27-29, 2026.
"With the recent happenings in Ateneo de Zamboanga or other school shootings or maybe earthquakes or fire, we've noticed that sometimes in the system, they tend to not focus on the students and where they are in school. And so, while we were worrying about that, we were trying to find a solution where students can be easily accessed and they can easily be found," Lorenzo S. Parinas said.
Parinas is in charge of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud storage of the system.
Ligtas Skwela is a subscription-based online platform for managing school emergencies like fire, earthquakes, and firearm-related incidents. It aims to close the information gap between teachers, responders, and the school administration.
While it is an online platform for now, the team said they are already working on making it available offline.
"It is split into two modes. There is teacher mode and commander mode. In commander mode, you're able to see all the classrooms, all the teachers managing them and their status. So, if a room is secure or people in need of medical aid, you can see all kinds of status. There's also event logs where you can see what's happening," Kush D. Shekar, Ligtas Skwela project leader, said.
Meanwhile, in Teacher Mode, faculty members will be able to access the system and report the status of their class.
According to Shekar, the platform tracks names and not headcounts, allowing school administrators to identify who is missing.
"Currently, the website is working, the platform is working, it's all functional but we've only tested it so far in our campus. For now, we plan to expand it further since it's still in the development stage," Vic Andrei P. Hernando said.
Hernando serves as the market research head of Ligtas Skwela. Once ready for deployment, the subscription is projected to cost P30,000 per 1,000 students per year, or P30 per student annually, based on the team's current cost projection.
"Our future plans include incorporating hardware into our platform. I think it will be way more useful to have buttons since it's way easier to access to perform the drills and trigger the alarm," Hernando said.
The team is also preparing to apply for a patent to secure ownership of the innovation. Shekar, Parinas, and Hernando were guided by their project mentor, Engr. Lyndon R. Bermoy.
"Of course, nagpapasalamat ako sa kanilang tatlo, for being the best students that they are already. Pinractice ko silang mabuti sa pitching kasi first time nilang mag pitch, at first time nilang sumali sa ganito," Bermoy said.
Shekar's team was the only group of high school students that entered as a finalist in the technology pitching competition.
The finalists were judged based on relevance, originality, AI integration, business viability, impact, and prototype functionality.
About RSTW
The Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) is an annual event organized by the DOST regional offices across 17 regions. This celebration showcases local technologies, research and development (R&D) projects, and innovative initiatives that connect communities, local industries, and stakeholders with science-based solutions. These efforts promote inclusive, sustainable, and resilient development in the region. The RSTW is one of the major scientific events leading up to the National Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (NSTW) celebration, which will be held in General Santos City in November. For more information, visit www.dost.gov.ph or the National Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (NSTW) Facebook page.
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