Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday said the deadly shooting incident at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City should serve as a ”wake-up call” for the current administration, stressing that the government must act immediately to make schools safer and strengthen the protection of learners.
“The continuing loss of young lives should serve as a wake-up call to this administration. The government must act now to make our schools safer and to better protect our learners,” Duterte said.
Duterte, who previously served as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), said the incident highlights the urgent need for the government to prioritize learner safety.
“No parent sends a child to school expecting that child to become a victim of violence. Yet this is not the first time that learners have been harmed either inside our schools or during school activities,” she said.
“This tragedy also exposes the failure of the government to recognize the importance of intelligence gathering and identifying threats before lives are lost,” she added.
Duterte expressed deep sadness and concern over the tragic incident on Monday, also citing the recent deaths of Ateneo student-athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili as part of a troubling pattern of violence affecting students.
“With the tragedies that have befallen our learners, including the loss of two student-athletes, the government must confront the serious gaps in our ability to protect the youth,” she said.
The Vice President emphasized that students must be protected not only from violence within school premises but also from abuse, neglect, and harmful influences from outside sources, including online platforms.
“Our learners must be protected from radical influences, whether they come from outside the school, from online platforms, or from individuals who take advantage of the vulnerabilities of young people,” she said.
She added that education should be viewed as part of broader national stability and security concerns, noting that repeated incidents should prompt immediate action rather than reactive responses.
“We cannot continue reacting only after another child is hurt or killed,” she said.
“Education is not only about academics. What our children learn, who influences them, and the values they carry with them outside the classroom are deeply intertwined with national security and stability,” she added.
The Vice President issued the statement a day after the shooting on Monday, June 22, which left three people dead, one in critical condition, and 20 others injured. Authorities said 15 of the injuries were caused by gunfire, while five were not related to firearms.
Within hours of the shooting, police arrested two minor suspects identified by the aliases “Nash,” 14, and “Rod,” 15.
