National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag said investigators have identified an online group of about 1,000 alleged “groomers” suspected of recruiting minors to commit violent acts.
The discovery came as the NBI investigates the 18 August shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) Junior High School involving a 14-year-old Grade 8 student who livestreamed the attack on Facebook.
Matibag said the NBI is still verifying whether the alleged online network is connected to the AdZU shooting or other school-related violent incidents in the country.
Based on the NBI’s initial investigation, the group allegedly targets people aged 12 to 19 through an online group chat.
“There are members from other countries but mostly Filipinos,” Matibag said.
Investigators were able to enter the group chat before it later became inaccessible, he added.
Matibag said the group allegedly uses an “initiation” system in which members are instructed to commit violent or illegal acts, including bomb-making, to advance within the group.
“It’s like initiation. You will be promoted,” he said.
Matibag also alleged that members could be manipulated into believing they would attain an elevated status after completing a violent task and taking their own lives.
The NBI plans to profile individuals who shared the AdZU shooter’s livestream as investigators seek to determine who was watching the broadcast and whether any members of the alleged network were involved.
Matibag said the NBI, in coordination with Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, will meet with Meta on Thursday to seek assistance in the investigation.
In the 18 August incident, authorities said the 14-year-old student entered the school armed with a 9mm Glock pistol and fatally shot a 15-year-old Grade 10 student inside a classroom.
The shooter later turned the firearm on himself.
