Student’s heroism in South Cotabato campus shooting cited

Content warning: School shooting

COTABATO CITY — There might have been more casualties in the Banga, South Cotabato campus shooting rampage on Friday, September 18, if not for a brave student who fought the attacker barehanded and forced him out of their classroom despite sustaining a gunshot wound to the arm.

Banga Mayor Albert Palencia and South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. separately told reporters on Monday, September 21, that the courageous male student of Banga National High School managed to break the windows at the rear side of their classroom after shutting its door, allowing his classmates to escape and run to safety while his right arm was bleeding profusely from the gunshot wound.

 “He is a hero. He exemplified what we call courage under fire, ignoring his gunshot wound bleeding then,” Tamayo, now in his third and final term as South Cotabato’s provincial governor, said.

The student Tamayo was referring to had been discharged from the hospital, where he was brought by an emergency response team from the Banga local government unit that responded to the incident. 

He is now recuperating at home and receiving essential relief assistance from the office of Palencia and the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, which operates under the joint supervision of the nurse Rolly Aquino and Tamayo.

Three people were killed in Friday’s incident at the BNHS campus, including the attacker, who later died by suicide.

The incident deeply affected residents of the supposedly peaceful town of Banga, South Cotabato, and prompted administrators of elementary, secondary and tertiary schools in Banga and nearby towns to temporarily suspend classes. Efforts to restore normalcy at the BNHS campus remain underway.

“The Banga local government unit will give the hero student a special award for his heroic act,” Palencia said.

Tamayo said the provincial government would also recognize the brave student’s actions through a special citation.

Tamayo and Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, separately expressed their appreciation on Monday for the extensive assistance being provided by the regional offices of the health, education and social welfare departments to the families of the three students killed in the incident and their wounded classmates who are still receiving medical treatment.