PWD ramp gave Ateneo de Zamboanga shooter building access past security – police

HEARING. The Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality hold a public hearing to discuss recent violent school incidents that claimed the lives of students, as well as the impact of online gaming and social media on children, on August 20, 2026.

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Despite the reported breaches, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla says security protocols at Ateneo de Zamboanga University were at par with industry standards

MANILA, Philippines – The student who carried out the August 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) bypassed more security checks by using a ramp for persons with disabilities (PWDs) to enter the junior high school building, Zamboanga City’s police director told a Senate hearing on Thursday, August 20.

At a joint hearing of the Senate committees on women, children, family relations and gender equality, science and technology, and basic education, Zamboanga City Police Office director Fidel Fortaleza Jr. said the ramp area was unguarded.

It was the second security layer the armed student had reportedly bypassed. The first was at the campus gate, where the car that brought him onto the grounds was supposedly not subjected to stringent security checks.

Lawyer Armee Jay Cresmundo, executive assistant to the Ateneo de Zamboanga president and legal adviser, said the Ateneo de Zamboanga University campus has two main buildings – the junior high school building, where the shooter entered, and the grade school building.

The campus had one gate for entry and another for exit, Cresmundo said.

“Unfortunately, there is a ramp in [the junior high school] building which is an access for those who may have a hard time climbing up the stairs. So sa mga estudyante na may kapansanan at sa mga nagdadala ng mga mabibigat na gamit (These are for students with disabilities and those carrying heavy items),” the lawyer said.

The ramp, the lawyer said, was normally kept closed, opened only when a student needed to use it.

“At that time, the ramp was opened because a student will pass through and unfortunately, eto po ‘yung ginawang access point para makalusot sa security na meron in the building (this became an access point that allowed the student to bypass the security measures in place at the building),” Cresmundo added.

Basement to building

Previously, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said at a news conference on Wednesday, August 19, that the student was driven onto the school campus in his father’s private vehicle.

According to Cresmundo, the young student, after being dropped off, walked toward the junior high school building and used the ramp. The lawyer said the student was with his sister at the time of the drop-off.

“They were on the same way but the [shooter] went through, papunta nga doon sa ramp (on the way to the ramp). The sister dumeretso siya papunta sa lobby (went straight to the lobby),” Cresmundo said said.

Despite the reported security breaches, Remulla told a news conference on Thursday that security protocols at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University were at par with industry standards.

“The boy found a hole in the school which he exploited. A hole in the structure, not a literal hole but a gap in the structure which he exploited to perpetrate this act,” he said.

DepEd to roll out shooter drills

During the Senate joint committee hearing, the Department of Education (DepEd) stressed the importance of preparing schools for similar scenarios by implementing measures to ensure students’ safety, including continued heightened security and institutionalizing active shooter drills.

Education Undersecretary Malcolm Garma said the DepEd would roll out active human-induced threat protocols in all public schools nationwide starting August 25. 

The protocols, developed in coordination with the Philippine National Police, were piloted at the Manila Science High School in July following the school shooting in Tacloban City in late June.

“Nakita namin na importante ang preparation, and readiness and awareness ng school to immediately react kapag may ganitong on-going threats. Malaking bahagi ng drills ang tinatawag namin na ‘reunification stage’ kung saan alam ng mga involved kung saan pupunta together with the medical responders and police officers,” Garma told senators.

(We saw that preparation, readiness and awareness among schools are important in enabling them to respond immediately to these kinds of ongoing threats. A major part of our drills is what we call the ‘reunification stage,’ where those involved know where to go, along with medical responders and police officers.)

Students and personnel of the affected schools were also provided with psychosocial assistance, Garma said.

Some students in Tacloban City are still refusing to return to school because of trauma, according to Garma.

Apart from intervention measures, Garma also called for stiffer penalties for false online threats against schools, saying that such bogus threats have been “paralyzing” school operations. – Rappler.com