Fifty-three individuals suspected of influencing the school shooting in Banga, South Cotabato, on September 18, have been arrested.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that authorities also prevented over 50 planned school shootings in the province during the same week as the mass shooting, RH Edniel Parrosa reported.

“Hindi lang namin pwede pag-usapan noon kasi very sensitive pa, tsaka children [in] conflict with the law. Pero ganyan kaseryoso yung problema [na] 'to,” Remulla explained.

“Kaya kung akala ng mga tao na this is not priority number one, ito na yun. Dapat mga kabataan 'yon,” he added.

The arrested individuals are being considered active threat suspects, Remulla said. This is after authorities allegedly recovered firearms from them.

“Let’s put everything behind [us]. The Ombudsman will resolve the floodgate [issue], malapit na matapos yan. The Sandiganbayan will prosecute that,” Remulla assured.

“Lahat ’yan, matatapos na. But this takes precedence because the impact of today will reverberate for the next 20 years,” he continued.

The school shooting at Banga National High School last September left three people, including the suspected shooter, dead.