THERE has been widespread debate and publicity in the wake of the shocking shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on June 22, 2026, that left three students dead and 20 others injured. We extend our prayers and condolences to their families and stand in solidarity with the victims.
There can be no excuse for such violence, and we must analyze the circumstances that led the perpetrators, aged 14 and 15, to commit that heinous crime and prevent it from being repeated.
The two teenagers used weapons made available by careless and uncaring adults. The 14-year-old used a Glock 9mm pistol belonging to his aunt, an active-duty policewoman who had previously taught him how to shoot.
The 15-year-old, meanwhile, carried a.38-caliber revolver registered to a security agency in Cebu City. That they got hold of them at all showed how easily available such weapons are.
This “random” shooting by minors is extremely rare in the Philippines. It is adults who enable young people to shoot. These adults have created a culture of violence that results in regular and frequently deadly shootings, especially in the provinces that affect children. And there is no public “outcry” over the more than 4,000 murders committed by adults every year.
It is the physical, verbal, psychological and sexual violence committed by adults against children that has damaged the youth. There is no outcry or massive protest against this, either. Adults have created a culture of violence and murder through their bad example, and the public has been mostly apathetic about it.
We have yet to hear a media outlet, police officer or senator loudly protesting the widespread sexual abuse and human trafficking of minors by adults. Approximately two million Filipino children are subjected to online sexual abuse, violence and exploitation annually, and nearly one in five children ages 13 to 17 have experienced child sexual abuse in their home or community in a year, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) research.
The two teenage shooters were likely influenced by the gun violence promoted by former president Rodrigo Duterte, whom some online posts say they admired. During his term, the police were responsible for the brutal shooting of 6,252 civilians, and they were granted immunity.
Research by major international human rights organizations claims that the total number of those killed by the Duterte administration’s war on drugs is estimated to be over 30,000. There was no widespread public outrage as the dead bodies piled up.
Now, Duterte is set to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. He allegedly ordered, even on live television, the killing of anyone suspected of wrongdoing.
It is amazing that out of a teenage population of 4.7 million, only two committed horrific crimes influenced by adults’ bad example. Yet some lawmakers want to brand all children as potential criminals by lowering the minimum age of criminal liability to 10 years old.
The real criminals are the adults in positions of influence who can kill with impunity in a society conditioned to accept in silence the corruption and violence perpetrated by those adults armed with guns and power. (To be continued)/PN
