BELIEVED to have been influenced by the fatal school shooting in Tacloban City, a 14-year-old girl allegedly planned to carry out a violent attack at Tolosa National High School in Leyte.
During a press conference at Camp Crame on Thursday, June 25, 2026, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said he received information from Senator Bam Aquino Wednesday night, June 24, about a person in Leyte province posting on social media about plans to conduct a mass shooting or stabbing at Tolosa National High School.
“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 recognize me. There’s no time, no day. Be prepared for whoever gets shot or stabbed. We don’t care, good luck to you at Tolosa Leyte National High School,” the post read, as quoted by Remulla.
Remulla said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) immediately conducted an investigation and traced the post to a 14-year-old Grade 10 student of the school.
He said the minor created multiple Facebook accounts to disseminate the message, alarming students, parents and the public.
Remulla said the female student was “hesitant and uncooperative due to the fear of repercussions,” while her parents also refused to provide any information.
“The kid was not charged with anything, again 14-years-old. She’s at their house. The DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) brought her for interview but she cannot be charged with anything,” Remulla said in a mix of Tagalog and English.
The incident reportedly stemmed from the student’s personal and family issues.
“The threat appears to be neutralized and inactive. No evidence of an organized plan or involvement of others was found, and neither (the minor) nor her family have access to firearms. It is possible that she had been influenced by the recent shooting at San Jose National High School,” Remulla said.
He added that the student is also an avid player of GoreBox, the same mobile game that the 14-year-old suspect in the Tacloban City school shooting was allegedly addicted to.
“We think she wanted to do a copycat crime. That’s what’s dangerous here because video games show how easy it is to kill a person. They think if it’s done there, then they can do it too,” said Remulla.
“All of them are avid fans of GoreBox. So parents, if that’s the game your children are playing, keep an eye on them because that game is very dangerous,” Remulla added.
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center earlier ordered the temporary blocking of GoreBox across the country as a precautionary measure while authorities assess whether the platform played any role in the events leading up to the Tacloban shooting.
GoreBox is a sandbox-style game that allows users to interact with weapons and create destructive scenarios in a virtual environment.
Remulla urged the public to immediately call 911 if they encounter similar threats, noting that many lives were saved during the shooting attack at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on Monday, June 22, which killed three students and wounded 20 others.
He said many more could have died had police not arrived immediately at the scene, leading to the arrest of the 14- and 15-year-old suspects.
Remulla urged the public to immediately report any threats of mass violence to authorities, stressing that early intervention can save lives.
“My appeal to everyone is this: if you see any threat, imminent threat, or chatter in group discussions indicating that someone intends to carry out a mass shooting or inflict violence, please call 911 and report it immediately,” he said.
“How important is 911? Within one minute of the shooting at San Jose National High School, a teacher called 911, and within five minutes of the call, the first responders had already arrived,” he added. (TPM/VoxPop Philippines)