Senators are looking into whether the fatal shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban has ties to the online extremist network known as 764, although authorities emphasized that any connection remains under investigation and has yet to be established.
During a Senate hearing on July 1, cybersecurity expert Angel Redoble, chair of the Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals, said the June 22 attack could become the first mass shooting worldwide attributed to the group if investigators are eventually able to prove the link.
“The first completed mass shooting, if we can finally attribute that to 764, that will be the first,” Redoble said. “Because in 2025 [in the United States], it was not completed. It was prevented [and] was foiled.”
Redoble stressed that no definitive conclusion has been reached, adding that investigators are still determining whether the Tacloban incident was directed or influenced by the network.
He said earlier studies had suggested that individuals recruiting for 764 largely operated outside the Philippines. However, attempted attacks previously intercepted in Marikina and Laguna led him to believe that recruiters may now be active within the country.
According to Redoble, his suspicions strengthened after reviewing activity linked to one of the Tacloban suspects. He cited a Facebook comment posted after the shooting, in which a user instructed the teenager to remove evidence from various online platforms.
A screenshot presented during the hearing by Senator Risa Hontiveros showed the account “Sedykh Ryazanov” posting the following message to the suspect identified by the alias “Nash”:
“Na-edit na kita boy sa TikTok. Make sure na-delete mo ang Discord, Reddit, Telegram para walang evidence mahanap.”
Hontiveros said the social media accounts involved have since been deactivated.
Redoble told lawmakers the exchange suggested the possible presence of recruiters operating locally.
“That will confirm that we have a local player, a groomer or a recruiter that’s operating in our own cyberspace,” Redoble said. “Before we had patterns, but today I think we can say that we already have this players, and I don’t think that guy is alone. I think there’s more.”
The hearing also examined how minors are recruited online. Redoble said the network revised its recruitment requirements in 2025 following changes in its leadership. Instead of requiring child sexual abuse material from prospective members, he said the group now seeks evidence of real-world violence, a shift he believes encourages attacks outside the internet.
He described a gradual grooming process in which vulnerable children are befriended, isolated from their families, and later pressured into harming themselves or committing acts of violence.
“It’s not the online game,” Redoble said. “It’s the perpetrators or the predators in the game that’s really changing our children.”
Redoble identified mental health support communities, online gaming spaces, and a TikTok subculture centered on Gothic fashion as places where recruiters often search for potential targets. He also cited games such as Roblox, Minecraft, and GoreBox as environments where vulnerable users may first be identified.
Separately, the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group disclosed that it has rescued 24 minors connected to what it described as the broader “True Crime Community” since October 2025.
Police Col. Richmond L. Tadina said investigators consider both No Lives Matter and 764 to be subcultures within that wider online community.
“We have identified No Lives Matter and the 764 network as subcultures. They are under the True Crime Community,” Tadina said.
“What is common is there is coercion, self-harm, exploitation of minors, and violence,” he added.
Tadina said five of the rescued minors had already inflicted harm on themselves after exposure to violent content, including material associated with the game GoreBox. Police were able to stop the children from carrying out attacks against others.
“So na-prevent po namin ‘yung 24 minors to carry out violence,” Tadina said. “However, it’s sad to note that itong recent shooting is hindi natin na-prevent.”
The Senate inquiry, led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, is also examining how minors gain access to firearms, the police response to the Tacloban incident, and the role of online platforms in grooming and radicalizing young users. It follows an earlier Senate investigation in April that prompted Roblox to strengthen protections for children using its platform in the Philippines.
