POLICE FOIL LEYTE SCHOOL ATTACK PLOT

AUTHORITIES thwarted another planned school attack in Leyte following a tip from Senator Bam Aquino., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)  Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday said.

Remulla said that on Wednesday night officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group rushed to the house of a female 14-year-old Grade 10 student of the Tolosa National High School in Leyte.

This after Senator Aquino informed him that there was a “chatter in Tacloban  and that there was an impending mass shooting that was about to occur.”

The information came just four days after two male students aged 14 and 15 went on a shooting rampage at the San Joe National High School in Tacloban City that killed three fellow students and wounded 20 others.

Remulla said that members of the CIDG Regional Field Unit 8 and the Anti-Cybercrime Group rushed to the residence of the female student and later found the Facebook posts of the teenager with the alias “Jasmine” who warned of a mass shooting or stabbing at the Tolosa school.

The DILG chief said that one of the student’s posts, written in the vernacular, roughly translates to: “You owe me. Get ready, I will disrupt the school. Be prepared for whoever gets stabbed or shot. We don’t care. Good luck to you.” 

Operatives of the CIDG who went to the house of the student discovered that alias “Jasmine” created multiple Facebook accounts to disseminate this content, which spread rapidly across social media, alarming students, parents, and the public.

“Sinabi niya, nag-post na siya na may mangyayari sa school. Noong nalaman namin, inaktuhan agad namin,” Remulla told newsmen at Camp Crame.

The Facebook posts and accounts were later deleted by the student who was “hesitant and uncooperative due to the fear of repercussions,” said the DILG chief.

Remulla added that alias “Jasmine’s” parents refused to provide information about the incident.

“Personal and family issues” are being eyed as the motives in the plot,” Remulla said.

“Following engagement with her family and along with investigation results, the threat appears to be neutralized and inactive. No evidence of an organized plan or involvement of others was found and neither the student] nor her family had access to firearms,” he said quoting a PNP-CIDG report.

According to Remulla, it is possible that “Jasmine” was influenced by a recent shooting at San Jose National High School.

Remulla urged the public to immediately report threats of school violence to the 911 hotline even as he thanked Aquino for giving them the information.

He added that in the case of the Tacloban City shooting, a teacher called up 911 within one minute of the gun attack and within five minutes, responders arrived.

Meanwhile,  Remulla said he will recommend to Congress to rewrite the IRR of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013 to  put criminal aspect to illegal transfer of guns.

“There are millions of gun owners in the Philippines  pero ‘yung culpability nila eh napakababa. Sa nangyari sa Tacloban, kinuha ang baril pero ang case is only civil, no criminal responsibility lahat ng gun owners. Kaya I am calling on gun owners, advocates of responsible gun ownership, help us craft new laws na may responsibility ang gun owner sa kanilang hawak na baril. It’s a deadly weapon na cannot be compared to hiniram na kotse at nakasagasa ang humiram,” he said.

In the case of the Tacloban school shooting, he said they cannot charge the 14-year-old student in the shooting rampage.

“‘Yung 14-years-old alam n’ya na hindi siya macha-charge kaya siya ang pumutok ng marami. And ayon sa batas, malilibre siya sa ginawa niya, so there must be change,” Remulla said.

The DILG chief also called on Congress to study the permanent shutdown of all computer and online games espousing violence.

The government temporarily blocked gaming app Gorebox after an initial investigation  showed that the suspects in the Tacloban City incident had been playing the game. 

Gorebox is  a game where players can “obliterate anything they desire” and engage in brutal combat with an extensive arsenal of weapons and explosives.