Vice President Sara Duterte has called on the Marcos administration to take immediate action to strengthen school safety measures following the mass shooting incident at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on Monday, June 22, 2026, that killed three students and injured several others.

In a statement released on Tuesday, June 23, Duterte expressed concern over the incident, saying it underscored the urgent need to protect learners from violence and other threats.

“No parent sends a child to school expecting that child to become a victim of violence. Yet this is not the first time that learners have been harmed either inside our schools or during school activities,” Duterte said.

Duterte added that with the shooting incident and other previous tragedies involving students, including the loss of two student-athletes during a basketball training in Aurora, the government must address what she described as serious gaps in its ability to safeguard the youth.

The Vice President urged authorities to address threats coming from both outside and within school communities, including radical influences, abuse, neglect, and violence.

Duterte also said that the incident exposed the government’s failure to recognize the importance of intelligence gathering and identifying threats before lives are lost.

“We cannot continue reacting only after another child is hurt or killed,” Duterte said.

“Education is not only about academics. What our children learn, who influences them, and the values they carry with them outside the classroom are deeply intertwined with national security and stability,” she added.

Duterte urged the administration to take immediate action to make schools safer and prevent similar incidents from happening again.

“The continuing loss of young lives should serve as a wake-up call to this administration. The government must act now to make our schools safer and to better protect our learners,” Duterte said.