2 students planned 'mission' in Tacloban shooting— DepEd's Angara

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara said the deadly Tacloban school shooting incident was a planned “mission” between the two teen students who allegedly carried it out, according to initial investigation.

“Sabi nung adviser yung batang ‘yun tahimik lang. Tapos parang nagpaalam siya na may activity raw sila sa Maynila. Tapos hindi siya pumasok nang one week. Tapos nangyari ito,” Angara said in an interview Tuesday.

(According to his adviser, the student was normally quiet. Then, he apparently asked to be excused from classes, saying he had an activity in Manila. After that, he didn't attend classes for a week. Then this happened.)

“So mukhang talagang, for now, although hindi definitive pinagplanuhan talaga. May group chat daw sila, tapos may ‘mission’ daw sila,” he added.

(So for now, although it’s not yet definitive, it really looks like it was planned. They reportedly had a group chat, and they supposedly had a “mission.”)

Angara visited Tacloban City and held a meeting with the officials of the local government unit, the Philippine National Police, the DepEd field offices, and the teachers and personnel of San Jose National High School.

DepEd said that immediate psychosocial support will be provided to teachers and school personnel, and a guidance counselor will be assigned to assist the affected students.

On “Unang Balita,” DepEd Undersecretary for Operations Dr. Malcolm Garma also said there are “indications” pointing that the shooting incident was supposedly planned.

“There are already indications na talagang pinagplanuhan. Kung makikita natin kung bullying ito, kung apektado sila o na-bully sila, dapat targeted, dapat tukoy kung sino,” Garma said.

“Pero seemingly, what happened here is talagang sporadic, random talaga. Lahat ng makita at makasalubong ay binabaril talaga,” he added.

(There are already indications that the shooting was actually planned. If this was due to bullying, the attacks should have been targeted, it should be specific who the target was. But seemingly, what happened here was the shooting was really sporadic, really random. They shot everyone they saw or came upon.)

As of Tuesday, the number of fatalities are three, while those hurt totaled 20, according to Police Regional Office 8 (PRO 8).

The alleged shooters were identified as students of San Jose National High School, aged 14 and 15.

The two minors are now under the custody of the Tacloban City Social Welfare and Development Office. —RF, GMA News