SENATOR ALARMED BY TEENAGERS’ ALLEGED PLAN TO ATTACK SCHOOL; MULLS BAN OF MINORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

SENATOR  Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday pushed to ban social media use for minors aged 16 and below.

This following a foiled school attack plot involving teenagers in Laguna.

Gatchalian expressed alarm on online platforms that he said were increasingly shaping dangerous behavior among youth.

“The Philippine National Police’s thwarting of a teenagers’ alleged plan to stage a school attack should serve as a wake-up call. It is alarming that an online gaming community may have influenced these youths, highlighting the dangers of unchecked digital spaces,” Gatchalian said. 

“Nakakabahala ang paggamit ng mga online platform upang naimpluwensyahan ang ating mga kabataang gumawa ng dahas. Equally concerning is the state of students’ mental health, underscoring the need for stronger school-based support systems,” he said.  

Gatchalian said he will file a bill banning social media use for minors aged 16 and below, a move that follows the examples of countries like Australia, Denmark, and Norway. 

“Huwag na nating hintaying lumala ang problemang ito ng mga kabataan bago tayo kumilos,”  he added.   

The Philippine National Police on Monday urged parents to warn their children against online games that “encourage violence” after seven teenagers in Laguna were turned over to social workers on Feb. 2 for hatching online a plan to attack their school on Feb. 16 using Molotov cocktails and bombs.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said  parents should ensure that their children will not be encouraged to violate the law by committing violence and other illegal activities that some people or groups may ask them to do.

A report from the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) showed that five boys and two girls allegedly shared images and videos of school shootings in other countries and discussed plans to attack their school using Molotov cocktails, bombs and fire extinguishers.

The seven minors were given psychosocial support while their devices underwent digital forensic examination.

Nartatez, meanwhile, ordered the ACG to intensify its monitoring of online gaming communities and chat platforms where “extremist recruiters may attempt to contact minors.”