Grade 8 Student Detained for Alleged School Attack Threat on Facebook

COTABATO CITY — Police and local government officials detained a male Grade 8 student for counseling after he posted threats on Facebook early Monday, September 21, to shoot his schoolmates with a pistol at a public school in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. Municipal police officials and local executives separately told reporters at noon on Monday that the student was immediately apprehended by barangay officials in Matiompong in Lambayong, after he threatened to attack his schoolmates at one of the schools in the municipality. The student is now under the supervision of police personnel and employees of the social welfare office of the Lambayong local government unit. Teachers and students at the school he allegedly threatened to attack have been warned about his Facebook post. Officials of the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Office and municipal officials in Lambayong said police intelligence personnel have been deployed around the school where the student is enrolled as a Grade 8 student. This incident highlights growing concerns about school violence and online threats among youth in the Philippines, emphasizing the need for digital literacy and mental health support.