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Third school shooting in Philippines leaves two dead, eight injured
A tragic school shooting occurred in the southern Philippines on Friday, resulting in the deaths of two students and leaving eight others injured, with four in critical condition. The incident took place in Banga town, South Cotabato, where a 16-year-old student opened fire on fellow students before taking his own life. According to Mayor Albert Palencia, the shooter had reportedly told his friends to leave after lunch, saying he would 'execute his plan,' which they dismissed as a joke. After lunch, he began shooting, hitting 10 students before turning the gun on himself. The suspect, described as an intelligent student and active in taekwondo, used a 9mm pistol belonging to his father, a Department of Education employee, which he had taken from a vault at school. He carried two magazines for the weapon and reloaded after emptying the first one. The mayor noted there was no indication the student had been bullied. Authorities are investigating the role of online communities, particularly a 'true crime' group, in the attack, following a Senate inquiry into a similar incident in Tacloban in June that left at least three students dead. In August, another student live-streamed a shooting in Zamboanga, killing a classmate before taking his own life. The Philippines has relatively strict gun ownership regulations, but illegal firearms remain a concern. South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo urged parents to keep guns out of reach of minors, stating that security personnel cannot monitor thousands of students alone. This incident follows a high-profile school shooting in Thailand in August, where a student carried out a similar rampage. The Nightly reports that the Philippines has experienced three school shootings since June, marking a disturbing trend in a country where such incidents were previously rare.