Marcos on school shootings: Everyone has a role to protect kids

Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday said that protecting children amid the spate of school shootings is everyone's responsibility.

Since June, there have been three high-profile school shootings that saw the deaths of students. Marcos spoke about the matter during a visit to Patul Elementary School in Santiago City, Isabela.

“Ngayon po ay nakakalungkot na mayroon tayong nakikita na mga pangyayari sa ilang eskuwelahan. Nangyari po ito, tiyak ako na nabalitaan na ninyo ang nangyari sa Tacloban, nangyari sa South Cotabato, at sa Zamboanga. Ito po ay kailangan po nating bantayan nang mabuti,” Marcos said.

(It is saddening that we are seeing these in several schools. This happened, I am sure you have heard about it, in Tacloban, it happened in South Cotabato, and in Zamboanga.)

“Kailangan po magkasama tayong lahat. Hindi po lamang ang pulis, hindi lamang ang mga teacher, hindi lamang po ang mga magulang, hindi lamang po ang pamahalaan. Kailangan po lahat tayo ay magkaisa at magsama-sama tayo. Bantayan po natin nang mabuti ang ating mga kabataan,” he added.

(We need to be united. Not just the police, not just the teachers, not just the parents, not just the government. We all need to be united, and we need to be together. Let us protect our children.)

Marcos said that the government is doing everything it could to keep kids safe.

During his visit to the elementary school, Marcos also witnessed the rollout of the Kaagapay Program in the Cagayan Valley, which aims to help enable parents to recognize signs of bullying, abuse, and online risks in their children.

Authorities have suspected that the school shooters were influenced by malicious online actors. Debates over regulating social media and online games have ignited, but many experts urged proper and healthy communication between parents and children as a preventive measure.

“Bantayan po natin nang mabuti ang ating mga bata, ang ating mga anak. Bantayan po natin na hindi sila nasasama sa mga ganyang klaseng kagagawan,” Marcos said.

(Let us take care of the kids, our children. Let us guard them so that they are not involved in these things.)

The Tacloban shooting saw the deaths of three children, while the Zamboanga school shooting saw two—including the shooter himself. The latest school shooting, which occurred in South Cotabato, also resulted in three deaths, again with the shooter included. —AOL, GMA News