DILG: School shooter was into deep dark web

MANILA, Philippines — The 16-year-old Grade 9 student who went on a shooting rampage at the Banga National High School in South Cotabato on Friday was suffering from depression and was exposed to the deep dark web, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla disclosed yesterday.

Citing an initial report from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Remulla said the suspect, who killed two schoolmates and wounded eight others before shooting himself dead, had been viewing a website which promotes violence.

“We will not name the website but again, he was into the deep dark web, which influenced him,” Remulla said during a news briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Investigation showed that the suspect used a firearm owned by his father, a disaster risk mitigation officer of the Department of Education (DepEd). It was not clear if the firearm was licensed or government-issued.

Probers examined the suspect’s cell phone and found several notes detailing his bout with depression, an issue which his parents had discovered last April.

Remulla said the parents tried to address the suspect’s mental issues but could not prevent the deadly incident from taking place.

It also appeared that the suspect had planned to carry out the attack for quite some time but had no specific target in mind.

“He left a note saying he was planning to do it but didn’t know whom to shoot. It was just random on his part,” Remulla said.

At around 1 p.m. on Friday, the student entered a classroom and shot several students with a Taurus .9mm caliber pistol, which had been kept in his father’s safety box that the suspect forcibly opened.

Two students died while eight others were wounded, two in critical condition, in the attack.

The latest school-shooting incident came after similar attacks in Tacloban in June and in Zamboanga City in August, which left five students dead and scores wounded.

The suspect in South Cotabato concealed the firearm on his back, which was not spotted by the school’s security guard, who inspected his bag. Two police officers were stationed outside the school providing security.

In the wake of the latest school-shooting, Remulla will meet with officials from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Congress for the crafting of a law which would limit the use of social media platforms to minors. He expressed concern that children can easily access the websites which espouses satanism, nihilism, and other forms of violence encouraging users to commit crimes.

“This is the fault of a young man who was influenced by the deep dark web. We should not put blame on anyone and rather we should have sympathy and empathy,” Remulla said.

The DICT, for its part, said it is ready to provide assistance in terms of communications and technical support.

It also urged the public from sharing graphic videos and images in connection with the incident.

“Let us respect the privacy and dignity of the victims and their families while allowing authorities to conduct a thorough investigation,” the DICT said in a statement.

Education Sonny Angara visited the BNHS campus yesterday and reiterated the need to tighten security in schools to prevent such incidents, also stressing the need for metal detectors to prevent guns or other deadly weapons from being brought in.

Angara said he was still waiting for the official report from investigators.

Angara said the attacker had left a letter stating he knew that what he had planned to do was wrong, but still carried out the attack.

The suspect had long planned the attack and his friends knew about it.

Banga Mayor Albert Palencia and South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. separately told reporters yesterday that the suspect’s phone had a Messenger group chat where he had told classmates that he planned to kill schoolmates inside their campus, and hinted of family and personal problems.

Tamayo said the BNHS campus employed 11 security guards but the suspect, described as an intelligent student, managed to avoid detection.

The suspect’s father is a DepEd Region 12 employee and had jurisdiction over schools in South Cotabato and the three other provinces and four cities in Region 12.

“According to one of the Messenger group chats with his friends, he planned the atrocity in August. He had told his friends then he was to execute his plan on Sept. 3, but did not push it through,” Palencia said.

The attacker had told his friends, in his last chat with them, not to attend classes on Friday because he was proceeding with his plan to kill schoolmates with a gun, according to Palencia.

Barangay officials and teachers told reporters that the suspect entered the campus during noon break, barged into classrooms and shot students.

Then he pointed his gun to his head and killed himself.

Palencia said the attacker reportedly got a low grade in one of his subjects in their most recent grading period.

A female student who was shot died instantly while a male student, who was also shot, died in the hospital. Six other students were wounded in the incident, and are now confined in different hospitals.

Tamayo tasked the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction to extend assistance and essential relief to the wounded.

The DepEd has confirmed that the father of the suspect, whose identity is being withheld, is an employee of DepEd Region 12.

Angara, the DepEd chief, said the police have yet to determine possible liability of the father, who owned the gun that was used in the shooting.

“We respect the jurisdiction of the PNP here in the criminal aspect. We are just waiting for the findings of the PNP. How did the gun get in, how did the child get the gun,” Angara said.

Angara said he will allow the official investigation to establish the facts and take appropriate action should administrative liability under DepEd rules be determined, while coordinating with authorities on separate firearm laws.

“For us, our concern is the safety of the children, their return, when classes will resume, etc.,” Angara added.

Angara proposed the creation of a Joint School Safety Task Force with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP to conduct site-specific security audits across public schools nationwide.

Angara said the move was in response to the directive of President Marcos following a deadly shooting at Banga National High School, the third fatal campus shooting over the last three months.

“In line with the President’s directive, DepEd will work with DILG and PNP to review the measures already implemented following previous incidents and identify remaining gaps in school safety,” Angara said, who personally visited Banga National High School on Saturday.

President Marcos directed DepEd, DILG, and the PNP to submit an assessment report recommending concrete policy measures to prevent future campus violence.

“This operational framework is not intended to create another permanent bureaucracy, but rather to bring the agencies together to assess specific risks, identify gaps, and recommend concrete interventions.

“Since the circumstances and vulnerabilities of schools may differ from one area to another, we need to assess risks on the ground and identify interventions appropriate to each school and community,” Angara added.

He said the proposed joint task force will evaluate critical campus security areas, including physical access control, threat reporting, emergency response, and local law enforcement coordination.

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones. No parent should have to experience this kind of pain, and no child should be afraid to go to school,” Angara said. Angara was accompanied by other DepEd officials as they assisted the victims and coordinated closely with local authorities and law enforcement to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the incident. “We remain unwavering in our commitment to securing our learning institutions nationwide,” the DepEd said.

Acting on the government request, Meta has started removing on its social media platforms videos related to Friday’s deadly shooting.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said they coordinated with Meta to take down videos which spread on Facebook immediately after the shooting occurred.

“The videos circulating were immediately taken down, and the accounts sharing the videos were blocked,” CICC executive director Undersecretary Renato Paraiso said.

The CICC’s threat monitoring center is still tracking down activities or contents related to the shooting.

Paraiso expressed condolences to the victims’ families and also urged the public to refrain from sharing on their social media accounts videos and photographs of the shooting.

He warned that reposting contents related to the incident could inspire other people to carry out attacks on school campuses.

“It may cause fear, confusion and may trigger copycat violence,” Paraiso said as he called on parents and guardians to regularly monitor the activities of their children online, including interaction with other groups on the internet and private chats. — John Unson, Bella Cariaso

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