Rare School Shooting in the Philippines Renews Debate Around Prosecuting Young People

A rare school shooting in the Philippines on Monday that killed three students and injured 20 others has prompted debate on whether the Southeast Asian nation’s laws on juvenile offenders are harsh enough to deter such crimes from happening.

The suspects in the shooting at San Jose National High School in Leyte province’s Tacloban City are two male students aged 14 and 15. They are in police custody and are being handled by government welfare authorities. The casualties—two female and one male student—were also minors. 

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. called for an investigation into the shooting, and lawmakers likewise urged a broad review of school safety, gun regulations, and gaps in the country’s education system. 

But the incident has also reignited discussion on the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the country. Immediately after, Filipino social media was packed with posts arguing about existing laws, with some claiming they were too lenient on young offenders. 

On Tuesday, Tacloban police spoke to local media about rumors circulating online that the two suspects had coordinated how to sneak firearms into the school and were supposedly aware of existing laws on young offenders. Without confirming or denying the details of the rumors, a local official said, “It’s worrisome because it seems they know a lot. They’ve studied it. They’ve read the law.”

Under a 2006 Philippine law, a child aged 15 years or below that commits an offense is exempt from criminal liability but subject to intervention programs which aim to prevent them from recommitting. Suspects aged above 15 but under 18 could also be exempt, but authorities may hold them liable if they were determined to be aware of their infractions and its related consequences.

But calls to hold more children culpable have grown in popularity after the country’s populist former President Rodrigo Duterte led a campaign during his Administration, claiming that drug syndicates have used children as mules for the illegal narcotics trade he waged a bloody war against. (Duterte is set to face a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity after the drug war killed thousands.) Duterte’s hardline approach has drawn criticism from human rights groups and international observers, but his domestic supporters have continued to push for tougher-on-crime  laws, including on children who break the law.

The Tacloban City incident is only the latest case involving violence in schools, as a new school year opens nationwide this month. Just outside the capital Manila in the province of Cavite, two stabbing incidents in two separate schools happened this month, with an 18-year-old suspect in one case and a 14-year-old in the other.

“Let’s amend the Juvenile [Justice law] because the problem is right in front of our faces,” Padilla said Tuesday, appealing to his fellow senators. “If it’s come to the point where we’re seeing people firing guns inside schools similar to the United States, maybe it’s time we actually take this issue seriously.”

But the author of the 2006 law, Senator Francis Pangilinan, said in a statement on Facebook that the issue rests with its proper implementation. Pangilinan also pushed back against a narrative spreading online that the suspects in the Tacloban incident will escape accountability. “The suspects cannot simply be released even if they are minors,” Pangilinan said. “They must go through the process prescribed by law.” 

What happened?

At around 9:20 a.m. on Monday, while classes were ongoing, gunshots rang out inside San Jose National High School, prompting panic among students and teachers. Video of the incident showed students taking cover and crying as shots were being fired.

National police said in a Monday press conference that the two suspects immediately opened fire upon entry. 

Two students were declared dead at the school, while the other was declared dead in a hospital.

One of the suspects was restrained by students and teachers, while the other surrendered after a neighbor escorted him to a police station.

Police said they recovered firearms and about 40 empty shells at the scene, with one of the guns having been issued to a policewoman assigned in the locality, a relative of one of the suspects. That policewoman has since been relieved of duty.

By Tuesday, regional police director Brigadier General Jason Capoy told Philippine broadcaster GMA News that based on their initial investigation, the suspects were only initially planning to intimidate specific targets, but after one shot was fired—it’s unclear if on purpose or by accident—the 14-year-old “could not be stopped.” The three casualties were not the intended targets of the attack, the police director said. Capoy also told the network that the suspects had been planning the incident since late April or early May.

Following the shooting, the city government suspended classes across all schools under its jurisdiction on Tuesday.

Police are still investigating the motives of the suspects behind the attack, but according to initial information gathered, one of the suspects claimed he had been a victim of school bullying.

Investigators are still verifying the suspect’s claim, but regional education officials immediately ordered schools to step up anti-bullying campaigns. One senator, Erwin Tulfo, said that the shooting demands more aggressive implementation of the country’s Anti-Bullying Act, a 2013 law mandating all public and private primary and secondary schools to adopt policies that address and prevent bullying.