President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would support efforts to outlaw violent online games if lawmakers move to draft such a measure, Malacañang said Tuesday, as scrutiny mounts over the digital habits of the two teenagers behind the deadly shooting at a Tacloban City high school.
The position emerged during a press briefing where Palace Press Officer Claire Castro addressed questions on whether the government sees a need to tighten how minors access apps and online platforms. She tied the matter to investigators’ findings that one of the young suspects had been hooked on a violent game.
“Actually, napag-usapan po iyan, nai-report nga po na itong mga batang ito ay gumon sa paglalaro ng online gaming na marahas. So napag-usapan po na ‘yung mga ganoong klaseng app ay dapat na ma-ban sa Pilipinas,” Castro said.
“So maganda pong mungkahi iyan at sana makagawa agad ng batas at open ang Pangulo sa ganyang mga panukala,” she added.
Castro said any prohibition would require legislation, and that Marcos was prepared to study relevant bills should Congress take up the cause. She suggested lawmakers might not even need prompting. “Sa tingin po natin kahit hindi na po kausapin ang mga mambabatas, dahil sa nangyari pong ito ay mabilisan din silang magbabalangkas ng batas para po maisakatuparan ito,” she said.
The game in question is GoreBox, a violent open-world shooting title that the Police Regional Office Eastern Visayas (PRO 8) identified as one the 14-year-old suspect had played before the attack. PRO 8 director Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy described it to reporters as a firearms-based game, and said the same teenager had once been taken to a shooting range, where he learned to release a magazine and reload a weapon despite limited experience.
Restrictions on minors’ use of social media and online services are not without precedent abroad. Australia, the United Kingdom and Indonesia are among the nations that have moved to curb such access for young users — examples cited as Philippine officials weigh their own response.
The shooting unfolded Monday at San Jose National High School, where two Grade 9 students aged 14 and 15 opened fire during class hours, killing three schoolmates and wounding 20 others. Both are now in custody and being processed as children in conflict with the law.
Momentum for legislative action has already begun building in the Senate. Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, said her panel will convene a hearing on July 1 to examine whether online platforms are fueling violent behavior among the young. “We’ll open the investigation on July 1 to determine if online platforms contribute to the spread of violent ideas, or if they are being used to brainwash and radicalize children,” she said, framing the inquiry as a continuation of an earlier probe into how digital spaces may be used to manipulate minors.
