Erwin Tulfo laments fatal school shootings: ‘Talk with your kids’

MANILA, Philippines — “Please talk to your children, talk to your child.”

This was the appeal of Sen. Erwin Tulfo on Thursday as he lamented the fatal school shootings in Tacloban City, Leyte, and more recently in Zamboanga City during a hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality.

“Malay mo hindi po siya bayolente, pero deep down inside, he or she wants to end his or her life. There’s so many instances. There’s many things like that, mga kabataan ngayon, they’re so fragile. It is because napababayaan po natin. We don’t communicate with them. Because we’re so busy (Maybe he or she isn’t violent, but deep down inside, he or she wants to end his or her life. There are so many instances like that. There are many things like that. Young people today are so fragile. It is because we neglect them. We don’t communicate with them. Because we’re so busy),” he added.

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Tulfo said responsibility for the incidents should not fall solely on schools, pointing to lapses involving school security, teachers, parents, guardians, and firearm owners.

“I think hindi lang po the school failed, everybody failed. The school, the family, the parents failed. Relatives or guardians of those children failed (I think it’s not just the school that failed),” Tulfo said.

He said schools should take threats seriously, citing reports that warnings about a possible shooting had allegedly been heard before the incident.

He also raised concerns over school security protocols, saying students arriving by tricycle, pedicab, or on foot were subjected to stricter screening.

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Meanwhile, those arriving by car could be allowed to enter more easily, which Tulfo said may provide an entry point for firearms into the school.

READ: Senators seek tighter gun rules, juvenile justice law review

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But beyond security measures, Tulfo stressed the importance of parents communicating with their children and checking on how they are doing.

Tulfo said parents should not assume that their children are doing well simply because they are accomplished in school or appear happy and outgoing.

“Kung yung isa malungkutin, talk to the child. Kung yung isa masiglahin, still talk to the child, because we’ll never know (If one is sad, talk to the child. If another is cheerful, still talk to the child, because we’ll never know),” he said.

He urged parents to make time for simple conversations, such as asking their children how they are or how school went, saying these conversations could help them understand what their children may be going through.

“Please before it’s too late, talk to your children… because we’ll never know. Because that might be the last day… that he or she leaves for school, that’s the last day that you see him or her alive,” Tulfo said.

“We all failed. Everybody failed dito sa Tacloban at saka sa Zamboanga (We all failed. Everybody failed here in Tacloban and in Zamboanga),” the senator added.

The Zamboanga shooting on Tuesday left two students dead, including the suspected shooter, who turned the gun on himself after shooting a fellow student. Two others were also injured.

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Authorities are still investigating the incident, including how the firearms were brought into the school and the circumstances surrounding the shooting. /mr