ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 21 August 2026) – Schools in Zamboanga City heightened the monitoring of their students following the discovery of threatening social media posts shortly after Tuesday’s tragic shooting incident inside the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) Junior High School Campus.
Abelardo Brutas Jr., principal of Maria Clara Lorenzo Lobregat National High School, told MindaNews in an interview that at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, he was informed that one of their Grade 10 students posted on his social media account the message “Gusto niyo bang sumunod sa AdZU? Ako ang gagawa (Do you want to be next to AdZU? I’ll do it
Brutas said he immediately ordered their school personnel to identify and locate the student, and by 6:30 p.m. he was able to talk to the student’s parents.
The 16-year-old male student told the school that he did not mean what he posted. “Tinanong ko, joke lang daw yun, parang balewala lang sa kanya. Hindi nila iniisip kung ano ang pinopost nila (I asked him, he said it’s just a joke, it wasn’t a big deal for him. They don’t seriously think about their posts).”
A few hours later, another post on social media was brought to his attention. A 17-year-old Grade 12 student posted in Chavacano “Bueno ase yo kaninyo cosa ya ase na Ateneo (Maybe I should do to you what happened at Ateneo).”
Brutas said he has filed a police blotter report for the two incidents.
On Thursday, the two students and their parents were called to the school and were placed on counseling with the school’s guidance counselor.
The city government immediately called a meeting with all schools, including universities and colleges, Thursday afternoon to discuss the spread of alarming posts and their respective security measures against possible threats of active shooting.
A few more school administrators revealed during the meeting that they have monitored similar threats online posted by their students.
Universidad de Zamboanga President Abraham Eustaquio shared that a post from a dummy account showing a photo of a pistol with a caption threatening the university’s safety is currently circulating online.
Eustaquio appealed to the local government to consider such threats, even pranks, a crime.
“If it is possible for the city to come out with a statement that we will not tolerate all kinds of pranks, just like what we all know in airports, bomb jokes, pranks. If we could just come out with a strong statement to show that we are serious about it because the threats just keep on coming,” he said.
Meanwhile, parents of students expressed fears of allowing their children to go back to school on Monday (August 24).
Jasmin Jamsani’s daughter is a Grade 9 student of AdZU. For some reason, her daughter was absent on Tuesday when the shooting happened, but was still disturbed by the attack.
“The other day she messaged me, ‘Mama, where are you?’ I asked why, anak (child)? She just said ‘I’m scared’.”
Jamsani also said, her eldest daughter who is in senior high school hugged her and asked, “Why is this happening Mama? Why are they bringing the issue of religion? Why are they blaming the teacher? Di ko siya masagot (I couldn’t answer her).”
She said the attack itself is already difficult for the children to process. “Adding these kinds of accusations only confuses them more.”
Jamsani echoed the call of AdZU to the public to refrain from sharing the video of the shooting incident and photos of the two students who died in it.
“A little consideration, please, what they see on social media is a huge trigger. The kids just want to remember the two students as their schoolmates they saw in the campus as happy children,” she said.
She added she already had their family signed up for AdZU’s counseling which started a day after the tragedy.
AdZU’s Psychological First Aid team has so far served 393 students, parents, and faculty. This is done in partnership with the Department of Education, other agencies, and volunteers from the Zamboanga Rehab Center.
University President Fr Ernald Andal, S.J. shared during the conference with school administrators that AdZU assigned Jesuits and administrators to the families of the two students who died and another who was wounded in the attack.
He reiterated the call to the public to respect the privacy of the families who are grieving the loss of their children.
“What is even more tragic is the proliferation of what is not true. How they could come out with stories and narratives that are untrue. It is irresponsible and immoral. If there are people making money out of this, it is purely evil,” Fr. Andal said.
He thanked Meta for taking down over 200,000 posts on Facebook alone.
A mass for healing was held at the University Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Thursday afternoon attended by students, parents, school personnel, and alumni. Residents continued to offer candles and flowers outside the gates of AdZU JHS campus..
In his video message posted on AdZU’s social media page on Thursday night, Fr Andal said the school will not force their students to return immediately. “Our intent is to be where the students and parents are, and not where they should be.”
He disclosed that they have turned over to the police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group the custody of security footage that will aid in the investigation. Their personnel have also submitted themselves for police interview.
Classes at AdZU Elementary and Junior High Schools will remain suspended from Aug 24-28. From Sep 1-4, students will be given non-academic activities as they transition to regular classes. (Queenie Casimiro/MindaNews)
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