The Department of Justice (DoJ) is investigating the possible online recruitment and mentoring of minors in connection with the recent school shooting in Zamboanga City, while police and education officials are examining the shooter’s digital activities and strengthening school security.

Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said Thursday law enforcement agencies were pursuing leads involving individuals who may have engaged minors through text messages and group chats in order to influence or recruit them into violent activities.

“We have teams looking at the possibilities,” Vida said. “We’re confirming information about the supposed mentoring of children and their participation in online groups.”

He said the authorities were also looking into reports that minors have been exposed to violent content, including violent games, and then were encouraged to engage in violent acts.

Related incidents?

The National Bureau of Investigation (nbi) will also look into any connection between the 18 August shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School and earlier school shootings in Cavite and Tacloban CIty.

NBI director Melvin Matibag said investigators will coordinate with the Philippine National Police which is also probing the incident where a Grade 9 pupil opened fire on other students, killing one, before taking his own life.

“Let us see what the overall story is,” Matibag said. “It’s an ongoing investigation.”

Digital evidence

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez said investigators were focusing on the digital evidence, including a cellphone and other personal effects recovered from the shooter.

“We will examine the cellphone and other digital evidence carefully and will not make conclusions until the investigation is completed,” Nartatez said.

Investigators are checking if the student made prior threats or gave warning signs and whether his online activities, including any involvement in online games and other platforms, were connected to the shooting.

Nartatez said the authorities were examining whether the livestream of the attack was planned and if others helped distribute the footage.

Mental health focus

Meanwhile, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian said social media, the internet, and violent online games should be looked into as possible influences on students. He also called for tighter controls on firearms, noting that the weapons used in the Zamboanga and Tacloban shootings were obtained from the shooters’ relatives.

Gatchalian urged a wider implementation of Republic Act 12080, or the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, which provides for school-based mental health programs and care centers.

He said the government had allocated funds in the 2026 budget to hire 10,000 guidance counselors and school counselor associates.

Gatchalian said his bill seeking to ban social media use among those under 16 would be sponsored in the Senate next week.

DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said initial findings indicate that the shooter acted alone and was influenced by an online game.

“As far as we can determine, he acted alone in the sense that he planned, executed and willfully did everything on his own. There was no conspiracy behind it; there was no active group that planned it with him; there was no family influence that made him do the unthinkable,” Remulla said.

“This is a case of undue influence of certain games on the internet. This is a case of desensitization of violence for children because of the games they play on the internet… The shooter is a victim of undue influence,” he said.