What’s behind the school violence haunting the Philippines

Two school shootings in eight weeks have forced the Philippines to confront a form of violence it once regarded largely as an American problem.



School shootings have historically been rare in the country, even though gun violence is not uncommon and the Philippines has one of the highest gun ownership rates in South-east Asia.



Yet, the attacks in Tacloban in July and in Zamboanga in August have been followed by bomb threats, a stabbing and firearms being recovered on other campuses.



The alarm prompted the Department of Education to plan nationwide active shooter drills on Aug 25, only to cancel them following warnings from psychologists that they could further traumatise children.



Psychologists, sociologists and lawmakers point to a perfect storm: the normalisation of violence, Filipino adolescents’ deep immersion in the digital world and too few adults equipped to spot those becoming isolated or distressed. Online extremist networks have learnt how to exploit these gaps.