MANDAUE CITY — Beginning Monday, June 29, schools in a municipality in Cebu will confiscate cell phones brought by students and will return these only when the academic year ends.

Dumanjug Mayor Efren Guntrano "Gungun" Gica ordered schools to confiscate cell phones beginning Monday and return them to their owners at the end of the school year. 

The security measure was introduced after the deadly school shooting in Tacloban City last week.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, June 28, addressed to school heads, Gica said the municipality would implement a total ban on cell phones inside schools without exception.

"To all school heads: No, in Dumanjug, it is a total ban," Gica said.

"There are no phones allowed in school. Starting Monday, if a student brings a phone, it will be confiscated and only returned at the end of the school year. If you do not wish to follow this policy, you have the option to transfer your children to another municipality," the mayor said.

The mayor said the policy aims to help students focus on reading, studying and interacting with classmates instead of spending time on gadgets.

"We want our kids to read, study, and interact with their classmates," Gica said.

He also urged parents to do their part at home by talking with their children, monitoring what they learned in school, and encouraging healthy relationships among family members.

Gica assured parents that the municipality would ensure students' safety despite the cell phone restriction.

The mayor said he would meet with all school heads at 1 p.m. Monday, June 29 to discuss the implementation of the policy.

He also said the local government plans to purchase school buses for students, although the initiative will be rolled out gradually.