GUNS, GAMES, AND GAPS: Zamboanga shooting revives push on campus security, counselor vacancies

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

ILOILO CITY — The fatal shooting of a student inside Ateneo de Zamboanga University on Tuesday morning has renewed pressure on officials to act on campus security, school mental health staffing, firearm safekeeping, and the regulation of online gaming platforms, with proposals ranging from a congressional ban on violent games to permanent security officers in every public school.

At least two people died, including the student who carried out the attack, in an incident that occurred at about 7:45 a.m. at the university’s Tumaga campus in Barangay Tumaga, Zamboanga City. Both were minors. Casualty figures reported by national outlets vary, and authorities had not released a consolidated count as of Tuesday afternoon.

Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Olaso said the attacker fired at a teacher, who was not hit, before shooting a student in a classroom. The attacker died at the scene.

Classes at the university have been suspended that day.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Melencio Nartatez Jr. said authorities were still establishing the circumstances of the shooting and called for calm. “The situation is now under control,” he said.

Father Guillrey Anthony Andal, AdZU president, said students were evacuated immediately and that teachers took charge of them. He noted that the shooting occurred shortly after the university’s security team had conducted simulation exercises to prepare for such incidents.

“We are deeply, deeply saddened by this incident,” Andal said.

Where the firearm came from

Bureau of Customs chief Ariel Nepomuceno said the attacker’s father served as Enforcement and Security Service District commander for the port of Zamboanga, and confirmed that at least one of the firearms used had been issued by the agency.

“I had to relieve him immediately to have an impartial investigation,” Nepomuceno said.

Olaso urged parents and guardians to keep firearms out of the reach of children.

Calls for action

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers called for a thorough investigation, including an accounting of how a minor obtained a firearm.

The group said the incident demonstrated the need to strengthen mental health and psychosocial services in schools, improve support for teachers and students, and address what it described as a culture of violence. It urged Congress and the Marcos Jr. administration to prioritize education and basic social services in next year’s budget.

The Department of Education said it was gravely concerned and was coordinating with mental health partners to provide psychological first aid and psychosocial support to affected learners, families, and school personnel.

The agency also appealed to media organizations, vloggers, content creators, and the public to refrain from posting, sharing, or amplifying videos, photographs, or other sensitive material showing the incident or its aftermath, noting that minors were involved.

DepEd said the circulation of such material could compound the trauma of those directly affected, and urged the public to rely only on verified information from official sources and to allow investigators to work without interference.

The university issued a similar appeal.

“As of now, we confirm that there are two fatalities. As for other information, we are coordinating with authorities for the full report with full details to be provided as soon as possible,” AdZU said.

The university said it had set up official communication channels and had coordinated with parents and guardians to collect their children while securing those remaining on campus.

The gaming question

Olaso told ANC that the attacker was a bright student who was reportedly a heavy user of the online gaming platform Roblox, and said it was time for Congress to ban violent online games. The characterization is unverified and came hours after the incident.

The platform has faced sustained scrutiny in the Philippines. Sen. Risa Hontiveros filed Senate Resolution No. 357 in March seeking an inquiry into Roblox and similar multiplayer environments, citing risks of grooming, sexual exploitation, and violent radicalization of minors, after authorities foiled an alleged planned school attack in Calabarzon.

The government declined to impose a ban. Following an April 7 meeting involving the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, law enforcement, and platform representatives, officials opted for stricter child safety enforcement instead.

Roblox subsequently agreed to age-restricted account tiers for users under 16, rolled out beginning in June, and granted the CICC and the PNP an expedited reporting channel. Parents may report platform concerns through the government’s 1326 hotline.

What Western Visayas has already done

Fifteen days before the Zamboanga shooting, the Department of Education Regional Office VI ran an active shooter simulation at its regional office along Duran Street in Iloilo City.

The Aug. 3 exercise, part of the Orientation on Active Shooter Incident Awareness, Response, and Simulation Exercise, was conducted by the Education Support Services Division’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Unit under the Disaster Resilience Pillar of the ECo Champions Program.

The orientation covered communication protocols, lockdown and evacuation procedures, the incident command system, and accountability mechanisms. Personnel practiced the “Run, Hide, Fight” strategy.

Special Weapons and Tactics and Explosive Ordnance Disposal units demonstrated tactical response procedures, while emergency medical responders practiced casualty management. An after-action review followed.

The simulation was itself a response to the June 22 shooting at a Tacloban City high school, which killed three students and injured about 20 others.

That incident prompted Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu to order the Schools Division of Iloilo City, working with the Iloilo City Police Office and other agencies, to tighten security protocols in all city schools.

“Even if this did not happen in Iloilo City, this is a wake-up call for all of us. We must continue to strengthen security in our schools and ensure that our students learn in an environment that is safe, peaceful, and free from fear,” Treñas-Chu said.

ICPO Director Col. Wilbert Parilla said personnel from the Women and Children Protection Desk and the Community Affairs unit met with the Iloilo City Schools Division Office to strengthen protocols. Agreed measures included purchasing metal detectors for school security personnel.

The ICPO held a further coordination meeting on Aug. 3 with DepEd-Iloilo City and the City Social Welfare and Development Office at the Schools Division Office on General Luna and Mabini streets, covering school security, child protection, and student safety.

Iloilo City lone district Rep. Julienne Baronda filed House Bill No. 9930, the proposed Public School Security Act of 2026, on June 23. The measure would require at least one school security officer in every public elementary and secondary school nationwide.

The staffing gap

The mental health services that ACT and DepEd both invoked remain largely unstaffed in the region.

As of June 30, DepEd-6 recorded 350 guidance counselor plantilla positions in secondary schools across Western Visayas. Of these, 306 were vacant, leaving 44 occupied. The region has no plantilla guidance counselor positions in elementary schools.

Iloilo City had no designated personnel in elementary schools and four in secondary schools, supplemented by 52 guidance coordinators in elementary schools and 11 in secondary schools.

Regional Director Cristito A. Eco said the positions have long been difficult to fill because of stringent qualification requirements and comparatively low salaries.

The shortage persists as schools implement Republic Act No. 12080, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, signed on Dec. 9, 2024. The law requires a Care Center in every public school and a Mental Health and Well-Being Office in every Schools Division Office.

Administrative and Services Division Chief Jessica Sapalo said DepEd-6 has begun aligning its guidance counselor positions with the School Counselor Associate post created under the law.

The provincial government has pursued a parallel track. Iloilo province operates 21 Teen Center 2.0 facilities, 11 of them fully operational, with five more scheduled for construction this year at about PHP 3.5 million each.

The centers are designed as hubs for psychosocial support, mental health services, career guidance and counseling, and the responsible management of social media exposure. Roughly 300 school heads, principals, and administrators attended the 2026 Teen Center Summit this month, where sessions covered mental health and safe spaces under the Program for Resilience of Iloilo in Mind and Emotion.

School shootings remain rare in the Philippines, which maintains relatively strict gun ownership rules including background checks and psychological evaluation requirements, though illegal firearms remain in circulation.

Iloilo City schools have nonetheless absorbed repeated security disruptions. Between Nov. 12 and 19, 2025, the ICPO recorded 31 bomb threats, all of which proved to be hoaxes, forcing class suspensions and student evacuations during final examinations.