Senators on Tuesday expressed grief and concern following the fatal shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, with lawmakers calling for measures to protect young people and prevent similar incidents.
Senate President Win Gatchalian, in a statement on Tuesday, strongly condemned the shooting and questioned how the alleged shooter was able to obtain firearms and bring them into the campus.
‘I demand a thorough investigation and call on the DepEd and the local government of Zamboanga to provide immediate psychosocial support to distressed learners and school personnel,’ he said.
‘We need clear answers on how the shooter was able to obtain two firearms and how these firearms were brought into the school premises,’ Gatchalian added.
School security
Meanwhile, Senator Bam Aquino, who chairs the Senate committee on basic education, said efforts should be made to ensure that a similar incident would not happen again.
‘As a parent, it is heartbreaking to know that the space where hope and dreams are formed becomes a place of fear and violence,’ Aquino said in a statement posted on Facebook.
Moreover, Sen. Erwin Tulfo, in a message sent to Inquirer, said he is looking to file a resolution to investigate school security systems in the country to ask – ‘are our children still safe in schools?.’
‘It’s saddening because it has only been over a month since the shooting at a public school in Tacloban City where students were killed, and now here we go again, this time at a private school),’ he said.
‘If there’s no budget to pay for security guards, perhaps barangay tanods can help in inspections or in securing the schools),’ Tulfo added.
Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, Sen. Mark Villar and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan also called for a holistic approach where authorities, parents, and communities all do their part in strengthening security in schools.
Social media’s effects
In a Facebook live on Tuesday, Sen. Robin Padilla also renewed his call for legislation regulating minors’ use of social media following the incident.
Padilla, who chairs the Senate committee on public information, said incidents like this fall under his committee, citing how online platforms could influence the youth.
‘This is the influence of social media on our youth because they are constantly using their accounts. They were even able to livestream it here,’ he said.
Padilla, however, said he could not yet comment on the circumstances of the shooting because he did not know the full details of what happened.
He said his concerns were part of his advocacy, that although he may face public backlash, it may help address the influence of social media on young people.
In a statement, Sen. Joel Villanueva also echoed the call for stronger safeguards for children’s use of social media.
‘The bill on social media ban for children is among the LEDAC priorities, and we will be relentless in pushing for its passage,’ he said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said it was too early to determine whether the shooting was connected to Nihilistic Violent Extremism (NVE) or other online communities that lawmakers began examining following the Tacloban shooting.
‘The truth is, when violence is not only carried out but also displayed, imitated and livestreamed, we are dealing with a much bigger and deeper problem as a society,’ Hontiveros said in a statement.
Hontiveros is the chairperson of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality.
She said the panel will continue its work on NVE, online grooming for serious violent activity, and other threats to children’s safety at its next hearing on Thursday.
Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The city government and the university have also appealed for calm and urged the public to rely on verified information as the investigation proceeds.