53 school shooting plots in South Cotabato thwarted

MANILA, Philippines — Following a fatal shooting incident at the Banga National High School (BNHS) last month, 53 other plans to launch similar attacks in South Cotabato have been thwarted by police, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla reported yesterday.

The potential school shootings were supposed to be carried out within the same week of the BNHS attack, which occurred on Sept. 18.

Three people were killed including the gunman, a Grade 9 student who shot himself using his father’s gun.

“That night, that week, there were 53 planned school shootings in South Cotabato. All were thwarted,” Remulla told journalists on the sidelines of the First Metro Manila School Safety and Security Summit in Quezon City.

Remulla said 53 suspects involved in online threats and groomers of minors were rounded up for allegedly planning the attacks.

He said some of the suspects drew the attention of law enforcement authorities after they posted on social media photographs of themselves carrying firearms.

Remulla said police kept the information secret for nearly a month due to the sensitive nature of the cases.

Some of the would-be perpetrators were children in conflict with the law, Remulla said.

The two-day school security summit, organized by the National Capital Region Police Office, was aimed at setting a unified response between school officials and  law enforcement agencies as well as strengthening security on campuses in Metro Manila.

Remulla said the protection of students is a priority and the campaign against online predators would continue