Two teenage students opened fire at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City on June 22, 2026, killing three of their peers and wounding seven others in what police described as an attack motivated by a grudge over bullying.
The 14-year-old and 15-year-old suspects are in custody after one was arrested at the scene and the second surrendered soon afterward, according to Tacloban city police. The pair carried a .38 revolver and a 9mm pistol into the school during morning classes, officials reported. Police have not released the names of the victims or the suspects, who remain under questioning as investigators seek to establish a full sequence of events.
Tacloban police increased patrols across the city following the shooting, which they described as the first in the area in recent memory. “We call on parents who have firearms to be more responsible, hide their firearms, make sure those are properly hidden, talk to their children,” Evalyn Diaz from the city police told BBC News. The mother of a 15-year-old victim called for charges against those who allowed the shooters access to the guns, stating in comments reported by Agence France-Presse, “I’m asking that the gun owners be charged, because the guns wouldn’t have ended up in the children’s hands if it weren’t for them.”
The Philippine Department of Education issued a statement expressing deep concern over the incident. “We call on everyone to join us in praying for the safety, healing and recovery of those affected by this incident,” the ministry said. The seven wounded students were taken to hospital for treatment, though authorities have provided no updates on their conditions as of Monday evening.
Philippine National Police figures show gun violence has been steadily declining in recent years, with close to 5,000 cases recorded nationwide in 2024. While gun violence is not uncommon in the Philippines, school shootings are extremely rare, according to multiple law enforcement assessments. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directed a thorough investigation into the shooting and measures to ensure safety in schools, Malacañang announced hours after the attack.
Tacloban, a city of roughly 250,000 people on Leyte Island, was among the areas hardest hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, an event that official records state killed more than 6,000 across the region. The disaster contributed to long-term economic challenges in Eastern Visayas, according to government reports from the period. Police data places this incident as an outlier in a region where such school-based attacks have not previously been documented in recent decades.
In contrast to the Philippines, trackers such as the K-12 School Shooting Database recorded 233 gun-related incidents on school grounds in the United States during 2025. Philippine authorities continue to question the two minors under juvenile legal protocols while examining how the firearms were obtained. The education ministry has pledged support for affected families and the school community in Tacloban.
