Malacañang’s backing on growing proposals to put a total ban on “violent” video games for minors met strong opposition from Senator Bam Aquino, arguing “that the platform should not be used as “convenient scapegoat” for the rising cases of youth-related violence, including the recent fatal school shooting. 

Aside from the 22 June shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, authorities reported multiple cases of shootings and attack plots allegedly instigated by minors in schools, though some of them were intercepted.

The spate of school-based violence involving minors prompted Malacañang to support calls to prohibit violent video games in the country. 

However, Aquino argued that there is no proven correlation between “violent” games and school shootings, adding that a blanket ban does not guarantee the prevention of such incidents.

Instead, he proposed that stricter age verification protocols, similar to those already in place for films and television, should be enforced.

“There are a lot of games that are not suitable for children. Perhaps what we can clarify is that, if anything should be stricter, that’s the children’s access to mature video games,” Aquino, chair of the Senate committees on basic education and science and technology, pointed out.

The suspects of lastweek’s school shooting, which killed three students and wounded 20 others, are 14 and 15 years old and are students in the same school.

Police said one of them is an avid player of a “violent” video game called Gorebox, and suggested that it may be a contributing factor that led them to mimic violent acts. 

As a result, Gorebox has been temporarily banned in the Philippines. The restriction will be in place pending investigation and until the developer integrates stricter safeguards for minors.

Aquino, however, maintained that the rising youth-related violence should not be attributed solely to video games. He emphasized that parents are also responsible for monitoring theirchildren’ss gaming and ensuring access only to age-appropriate content.

German-based Gorebox developer Felix Filip turned down an invitation from a Senate panel that will look into whether the gaming platform should be held accountable for the Tacloban shooting.

Filip said he has no business being involved in the probe, adding that “those affected by it deserve to be at the center of this matter.

He also pointed out that Gorebox is classified for adults aged 18 and over, “and is not intended for, or directed at, minors.”

The ban on Gorebox drew mixed reactions from civil society, with some arguing that focusing on video games risked distracting from more significant risk factors, including bullying, mental health, family environments, access to firearms, and school safety.

Instead of gaming restrictions and prohibitions, they called for comprehensive violence prevention measures, such as stricter enforcement of existing age screening and parental controls.

The Senate investigation, scheduled for 1 July and led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, will assess the validity of reports that 'groomers' or extremists in Western countries have access to minors in Gorebox and encourage them to be radically violent.

During a similar hearing in April, authorities found that the recent spate of school-based extremist activity was traced to gaming platforms, like Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Free Fire, among others.

One of the glaring examples of extremist activities, according to the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group, was the mass shooting plot by a group of students in Calamba, Laguna, supposedly during their foundation week.

Police foiled the plan in March after being notified by their foreign counterparts. Authorities said the intel helped them follow a digital trail and found that the suspect initially had gotten in touch with the minors through Roblox before shifting to private messaging on Facebook.