Marcos orders probe into spate of school violence involving minors

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June 26, 2026 | 7:30am

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has tasked concerned government agencies to determine the root causes of the series of violent incidents involving minors reported this week in different parts of the country.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said during a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday, June 25, that the president, alarmed by the increasing cases of student-related violence, wants the government to immediately act to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

“Ang mga marahas na nangyayari sa ating bansa ay hindi na po katanggap-tanggap,” Castro said.

(These violent incidents in our country are unacceptable.)

Castro added that the president was “heartbroken” over the fact that both the victims and suspects in the school shooting incident in Tacloban were minors.

“Noong nabalitaan nga po ng pangulo ang nangyari sa Tacloban ay “heartbroken” masasabi natin ang naramdaman ng pangulo dahil mga bata ang lumalabas na kayang gumawa ng krimen, kayang magplanong gumawa ng krimen at mga inosenteng mga kabataan din ang nabibiktima,” she said.

(When the president learned what happened in Tacloban, he was heartbroken because it appeared that the perpetrators were young people and the victims were also young.)

Reviewing calls to lower age of criminal responsibility

Malacañang is still reviewing renewed calls to lower the age of criminal responsibility following the incident.

Earlier on Thursday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government reported that authorities had prevented another potential mass shooting in Tolosa, Leyte, based on a tip from Sen. Bam Aquino. Involved in the incident was a 14-year-old student from Tolosa National High School.

“At 8 o’clock last night, Senator Bam Aquino called me up and gave me a tip that there was chatter in Tacloban that there was an impending mass shooting that was about to occur,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in a press briefing.

Aside from this incident and the Tacloban school shooting, three stabbing incidents involving students also occurred in different parts of the country.

On June 16, seven Grade 5 pupils were stabbed by a Grade 8 student in General Trias, Cavite, while a senior high school student stabbed an 18-year-old schoolmate at Cavite National High School.

In Negros Occidental, meanwhile, a Grade 10 student stabbed a Grade 9 schoolmate on June 23.