Jamaine Punzalan

Police investigators walk in front of the school entrance after a shooting incident at a high school compound in Tacloban City, Leyte province on June 22, 2026. Noel  Sianosa, AFP

Article (news)

Victoria Tulad

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178357823426920260622-tacloban-school-shooting-sjns-AFP-3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Police investigators walk in front of the school entrance after a shooting incident at a high school compound in Tacloban City, Leyte province on June 22, 2026. Noel  Sianosa, AFP</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA —- The Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed more incidents of violence have been recorded ever since the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/22/alleged-school-shooting-reported-in-tacloban-1034">mass shooting in San Jose National High School in Tacloban City</a>, Leyte last June. </p><p>This, after Senator Bam Aquino enumerated several troubling incidents in schools such as <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/7/9/no-explosives-found-8-pampanga-schools-cleared-after-bomb-scare-1355">bomb threats</a>, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/25/dilg-says-another-potential-school-attack-foiled-1051">stabbing</a>, and<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/7/9/student-found-carrying-army-issued-handgun-in-south-cotabato-0948"> recovery of firearms and ammunition</a> during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education on Thursday. </p><p>One of the committee’s goals is to craft the School Safety Act.</p><p>“Twelve incidents in 20 days. Ito po ba ay nangyayari talaga even before hindi lang nababalita? Or ngayon lang siya nababalita or dahil sa nangyari sa Tacloban ay dumami yung ganoong klaseng insidente?” Aquino, chairperson of the committee, asked.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/7/9/no-explosives-found-8-pampanga-schools-cleared-after-bomb-scare-1355">8 Pampanga schools cleared after bomb scare </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/7/9/student-found-carrying-army-issued-handgun-in-south-cotabato-0948">Student found carrying Army-issued handgun </a></div><p>DepEd Undersecretary Malcolm Garma said incidents of violence had been reported even before the Tacloban incident, but these became frequent after the June 22 school shooting. </p><p>“After the Tacloban mas lalong dumami. I think majority of that which really concerned DepEd are the threats, yung bomb threat at saka yung shooting threats. Sabi po ng PNP when we had a meeting with them, so there’s always the tendency of the phenomenon of copycat so nagiging mas curious, sila especially knowing the story behind the Tacloban incident,” Garma said. </p><p>He said DepEd needs help in preventing this copycat phenomenon. </p><p>Garma also said they received information that more downloads of the video game <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/7/2/gorebox-may-be-permanently-banned-if-developer-fails-to-explain-safeguards-1218">Gorebox</a> happened after the Tacloban incident. Authorities said one of those involved in the Tacloban shooting was into playing Gorebox.  </p><p>“What we cannot prevent really are three things —number one is the intention of the learner, second is the motivation, and number three and I think the most important one is the influence. So even if we secure our schools in terms of the facilities, if there’s the intention, influence and the motivation, gagawin at gagawin talaga,” Garma said. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2026/7/2/gorebox-may-be-permanently-banned-if-developer-fails-to-explain-safeguards-1218">CICC: GoreBox may be permanently banned in PH over developer&#x27;s failure to explain game safeguards</a></div><p>Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian pointed out that it was worrisome that 41.2 percent of Filipino students have been threatened by other students, based on a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) survey. </p><p>He also explained what prompted him to file Senate Bill 2066 or the Social Media Safety for Children Act banning social media use for 16 years old and below. </p><p>“‘Pag titingnan ho natin yung FB regulations, sinasabi ng Facebook bawal 13 years old, hindi puwedeng mag-register ng 13 years old. Pero doon sa PSA survey na ginawa po, makikita natin na from 13 years old and below, almost 90 percentng mga bata ay mayroong social media gamit yung kanilang mga devices,” Gatchalian said. </p><p>“As young as 10 years old, naglalaro sila ng social media, naglalaro sila ng games, naglalaro sila ng mga ganitong mga technology na minsan kausap nila hindi nila alam kung sino. And that’s why this prompted me to file this bill to ban social media for 16 years old and below,” he added. </p><p>In terms of security, Garma said four out of 10 schools in the country have installed CCTVs. Around 80 percent or 13,802 schools have less than 10 CCTVs. One out of 10 schools have metal detectors.</p><p>“Ang school safety ay hindi lamang responsibilidad ng DepEd o ng paaralan,” Aquino said. “Responsibilidad po ito ng whole of nation. Responsibilidad po ito ng buong bansa. Responsibilidad ng mga magulang, ng komunidad. At higit sa lahat, responsibilidad po ng bawat isa sa atin dito.” </p><p>“Nandito tayo dahil gusto po nating matiyak na ang mga nangyari sa Tacloban, sa Aurora, at sa iba pang bahagi ng bansa ay hindi na mauulit muli,” the senator said.</p><p>Two student-athletes, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/7/9/rene-baterbonia-s-tomb-filled-with-flowers-as-people-remember-him-1-month-after-death-1054">Rene Baterbonia</a> and<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/7/8/families-of-divine-adili-rene-baterbonia-still-seek-answers-one-month-since-deaths-1514"> Divine Adili</a>, died on June 8 during their training in Aurora. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2026/7/8/families-of-divine-adili-rene-baterbonia-still-seek-answers-one-month-since-deaths-1514">Families of Divine Adili, Rene Baterbonia still seek answers one month since deaths </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/26/cidg-dilg-hazing-tab-baldwin-ateneo-adili-baterbonia-1042">CIDG eyes hazing raps vs Tab Baldwin, 10 others over Baterbonia, Adili deaths</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>15,000 SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATES </strong></div><div><br/></div><p>DepEd Undersecretary Willie Cabral said the hiring of 10,000 school counselor associates to cover 47,000 schools would begin upon release of the Notice of Organization, Staffing, and Compensation Action (NOSCA) by the Department of Budget and Management. </p><p>The department is working on a compressed timeline of 35 days. If the NOSCA is released by the end of August, Cabral said they could deploy the 10,000 school counselor associates by September. They will be assigned to schools with high incidents of bullying, or schools that are considered large and very large.</p><p>Cabral added that there is a parallel effort of reclassifying 4,440 guidance counselor positions that were not filled since 2021. Hence, DepEd will be able to create an additional 5,000 school counselor associate positions. </p><p>Cabral said <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/26/15-000-school-counselor-associates-to-be-hired-before-end-of-2026-2226">15,000 school counselor associates</a> will be deployed within the year.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/1/manila-creates-schools-safety-initiative-eyes-expulsion-for-students-involved-in-serious-offenses-1720">Manila creates ‘schools safety initiative’, eyes expulsion for students involved in serious offenses </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/2/pnp-eyes-anti-bullying-help-desks-in-schools-to-boost-student-protection-1553">PNP eyes anti-bullying help desks in schools to boost student protection </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/3/pnp-says-rise-in-school-threats-mostly-aimed-at-disrupting-classes-exams-1252">PNP says rise in school threats mostly aimed at disrupting classes, exams </a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e92p3TyhlcU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zj23rb4Wjmk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div>

<p>The Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed more incidents of violence have been recorded ever since the mass shooting in San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, Leyte last June.</p>

The Department of Education (DepEd) confirmed more incidents of violence have been recorded ever since the mass shooting in San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, Leyte last June.

‘Copycat phenomenon’: More incidents of school violence recorded after Tacloban shooting — DepEd

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‘Copycat phenomenon’: More incidents of school violence recorded after Tacloban shooting — DepEd

Victoria Tulad,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 09, 2026 02:30 PM PHT

Read More:

tacloban shooting

deped

bam aquino

sherwin gatchalian

school safety act

rene baterbonia

divine adili

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