Senator Risa Hontiveros – Photo courtesy of Senator Risa Hontiveros/Facebook.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said recent school shootings should be examined not only as security failures but also as possible signs of deeper online and social influences affecting young people.
Hontiveros said the August 18 shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School remained under investigation as the Senate began looking into factors that may have contributed to the attack.
She said the shooter’s parents had agreed to surrender his gadgets for digital forensic examination so investigators could review his online activity and determine whether extremist content played a role.
The senator pointed to nihilistic violent extremism, or NVE, as one area being scrutinized. She said a similar Senate inquiry into the June Tacloban school shooting had already raised indications that such online influence may have been present.
Hontiveros described NVE as a form of radicalization that can spread through online communities and expose minors to messages that normalize violence, self-harm or hostility toward others.
She stressed that prevention could not fall on parents alone. Families, schools, government agencies and digital platforms all have roles in identifying risks and responding before violence escalates.
Hontiveros also called on Meta and other social media companies to improve content moderation, citing the livestream of the Zamboanga shooting that remained online for several minutes before being taken down and later circulated through other channels.
She likewise supported stricter firearm safeguards, especially for government-issued guns, and said reducing access to firearms could help lessen gun-related violence. On proposals requiring transparent school bags, she cautioned against measures that would add costs for families, particularly those in public schools.