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Zamboanga school shooting: Philippine lawmakers demand urgent probe into gun access
Rep. Antonio Tinio said gun owners must be held accountable for every life taken by the violence. The shooter was the son of a customs police officer who owned both guns used in the incident
- PUBLISHED: Wed 19 Aug 2026, 6:00 AM
Filipino lawmakers renewed calls for deeper investigations into how students could gain access to guns following another school shooting on Tuesday, this time in Zamboanga City, killing two, including the perpetrator.
ACT Teachers Party Representative Antonio Tinio raised alarm over how children can gain access to firearms, underscoring thorough investigation and accountability for those responsible for the failure to safeguard young people.
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"Find out where the guns came from, how did the child get hold of them, and who is responsible for ensuring the firearms could not be taken by anyone other than the licensed owners,” Tinio underlined.
He added that the registered gun owners must be held accountable for every life taken by the violence.
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Tinio’s demand was echoed by Senator Joel Villanueva, who said the deadly shooting, just as classes were about to begin at the Ateneo de Zamboanga junior high school, should trigger action on school safety, firearm access and responsible gun storage, particularly to prevent weapons from reaching minors and unauthorized persons.
“These are difficult but necessary conversations, because no weapon should ever find its way into a classroom or be used to cut short the life of a child,” Villanueva said.
Tuesday’s deadly shooting is the second in as many months in the Philippines, following a similar incident in Tacloban City last June that killed three students.
Cops owned the guns
The Zamboanga City shooter was the son of a customs police officer who owned both guns used in the incident. The Bureau of Customs (BOC), to which the father was assigned, admitted that one of the guns was issued by the agency.
BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno on Tuesday relieved Lt. Lars Jalani, district commander of the Enforcement and Security Services (ESS) in Zamboanga port. “We are relieving him for the time being because an impartial investigation is needed to determine exactly if there was gross negligence regarding how his high school-aged child came to possess the weapon,” Nepomuceno said.
In Tacloban City, the more active of the two shooters stole his aunt’s service firearm and used it in killing his schoolmates. The other Tacloban perpetrator used a revolver owned by an uncle.
Last week, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara called for stronger gun safety following the June 22 Tacloban City shooting and an incident involving learners in General Santos City on August 3. The education chief urged law enforcement to intensify efforts for responsible gun ownership nationwide.
Marcos spokesperson blames teachers
But as the lawmakers and the education secretary called for greater responsibility among gun owners, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s spokesperson Claire Castro uttered a controversial statement blaming teachers for the seeming increase in school violence.
“One of the solutions we see here is that our youth must be guided, not only by their parents but by their schools themselves. We have sometimes seen firsthand that some teachers violate this kind of morality. They sometimes teach their students how to be disrespectful, especially to elders or to other people," Castro said.
Castro’s remarks drew swift condemnation from teachers' groups, which said the spokesperson was out of place.
“Why is this our fault now when the government gives no adequate support to schools, students and teachers?” Alliance of Concerned Teachers chairperson Ruby Bernardo asked.
She noted there are only about 1,000 registered guidance counselors and coordinators serving more than 40,000 public schools nationwide.
Experts note the ideal ratio is one counselor for every 250 students, meaning the country needs over 50,000 counselors for the 27.6 million students enrolled in basic education across the Philippines.
“We demand a public apology from (Undersecretary Claire) Castro for her unfair and baseless statement against teachers,” said former ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro.
Castro reminded "teachers act as second parents to schoolchildren in school and do not teach them rudeness or bad manners. While there are isolated cases of misbehavior, the presidential spokesperson could not hastily accuse the country’s one million public and private school teachers of teaching students bad manners."
