Philippine authorities thwart school attack plot in Leyte

Philippine authorities successfully foiled another possible school attack in Leyte province just two days after Monday’s deadly shooting in Tacloban City, thanks to a timely tip from Senator Bam Aquino.

The senator, nephew of former president Corazon Aquino, informed Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla of the threat on Wednesday night. “At 8 o’clock last night, Senator Bam Aquino called me up and gave me a tip that there was chatter in Tacloban that there was an impending mass shooting that was about to occur in Leyte,” Remulla said on Thursday, according to the Philippine Star newspaper.

He told the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, which immediately launched an investigation and traced the threat to a 14-year-old student at Tolosa National High School. The girl was arrested by 11pm that day.

“Investigation revealed that she created multiple Facebook accounts to disseminate this content, which spread across social media, alarming students, parents and the public,” Remulla said.

According to GMA News, one of the posts read: “Hello, send this to your friends. Yo, from Tolosa. Prepare yourselves, especially you, as you owe me. Get ready. I will disrupt the school. You won’t know me, but you will recognise me. There’s no time, no day. Be prepared for whoever gets shot or stabbed.”

The Grade 10 student deleted the posts after being contacted by authorities. As she was below 15 years old, she was not remanded in jail but sent instead to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.