Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla vowed to take the necessary steps to protect students and prevent school shooting incidents, stressing responsible gun ownership.
In a statement released on Tuesday, August 18, Remulla lamented the agency’s investigation into another school shooting incident in the country.
“Once again, it involves students. Once again, it involves firearms. Once again, it has cost lives,” he wrote about the shooting incident in Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School on early Tuesday.
“If we must quarrel as a country about many things, let us not quarrel about this: the safety of our children is paramount to us all. Children know few things about politics. They still have to discover and discern right from wrong,” he added.
According to him, the incident is one of the few times when everyone is a victim, including the suspect, whom he believes is a victim of video games “inhabited by actors who induce terror” and influence children’s minds.
As a department, Remulla stressed that the public’s safety is paramount. However, protection should not be solely reliant on public officials. Instead, the DILG Chief highlighted what responsible gun ownership can do.
“Gun ownership is a privilege accorded to those who need to protect themselves. But that privilege carries with it not only the responsibility of ownership, but the responsibility of safekeeping. One cannot exist without the other,” he stated.
Remulla vowed to “make hard choices” to protect the Filipino people, adding that they will take action to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The statement comes after an Eighth grader opened fire inside the campus, triggering panic among students and school personnel.
Police Regional Office-Zamboanga PIO PMaj. Shiela Mae Chang confirmed in an interview at DZRH’s Public Service Hour on Tuesday that two fatalities were reported—the shooter, who is an eighth grader, and a Grade 10 student.
Chang explained that the student went to the fifth floor of the building and reportedly shot himself after the incident.
“Umakyat po siya ng fifth floor and then sa kasamaang palad, doon niya po binaril ang kanyang sarili,” Chang said.
