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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
August 21, 2026 | 4:43pm
In this photo uploaded on Facebook on Aug. 21, 2026 shows Zamboanga City Police Office Director PCOL Fidel Fortaleza Jr. joins DILG Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla Jr. during a press briefing on the recent school shooting in Zamboanga City.
PNP Zamboanga City Police Office via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police has reminded its personnel to secure their firearms and ensure these remain out of children’s reach when they are off-duty.
“We remind all our personnel to exercise utmost responsibility in securing their firearms, especially when they are off duty and at home,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr said in a statement.
Firearms should “never be left in places where children or unauthorized persons can gain access to them,” he added.
Two deadly school shootings have shaken the country in a span of roughly two months — first in June in Tacloban City, where three students died, and the second earlier this week in Zamboanga City, where two students, including the student gunman, died.
Both incidents saw the student perpetrators use service-issued firearms that they swiped from a relative or a parent.
In the Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting, the Grade 8 student who carried out the attack used a Bureau of Customs-issued gun owned by his father, a customs police the Port of Zamboanga.
The PNP also directed police commanders to hold firearm-accountability reminders during unit briefings and formations.
Nartatez said the PNP will provide personnel and resources for the nationwide school safety drills the Department of Education will hold on August 25.
