The Intersection

𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡 | 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲
✍🏼 Frances Florece

Imagine going to school, to learn, to study. Imagine sending your child to school, thinking later in the afternoon they will come back, safe and sound.

But after multiple reported shootings in the Philippines, is school still really safe? Or has it become a place where students fear to be in?

From an area where students run around, laugh, learn, and love, to a place where students stay on guard for the sake of survival, the question arises: Why have these incidents occurred lately? Where and when did it all start? These incidents are suspected to happen due to violent games, exposure to violence, bullying, but why? Why did the suspects do this horrible act? What they did to the victims is horrible, unforgivable, and can never be justified; but then, what about the suspect? What was the main motive? The reason? People blame it on video games, but kids or any normal person wouldn’t wake up one day and start a traumatic event just because of games.

The government is used to pinning all the blame on video games, but never their poor security, their poor laws, and their inconsistent attention and care for students. They dodge the question, “Why do you only care when the action only starts?” They don’t care about what happened; they care about how they look publicly.

Then, where did this start? This 2026 has been a rough year, from the first shooting in San Jose National High School, Tacloban City, to Ateneo de Zamboanga University. Losing lives, laughs turn to screaming. A loud, warm, safe atmosphere turning into a terrifying, gloomy one, where laughter and smiles once echoed to students screaming, desperate for help to come. And the police all bumped into one motive: both crimes are shootings, all are done in school, all are students, different schools, same crime. But the motive found is bullying, depression, and academic pressure. All suspects having related shootings speak up for the situation itself.

Schools arrange programs for anti-bullying, shootings, and so much more. But those programs never actually have an effect, just to inform. They never actually took action except speaking up on stage; they don’t talk to the students. Students are usually scared to speak up. It takes so much courage and fear to bottle in. This proves how little the government actually cares. They only start to care when the event is done and irreversible.

Bullying ruins a person’s mindset, ruins how the person thinks of the world and the person who bullied them. Sometimes they kill victims who just got in their way; sometimes they achieve what or who they were looking for. But one thing people overlook is that video games are never the one to actually blame. Bullying is, poor security is, poor programs are, and people who gave young people fi****ms.

No matter the warnings given to students, no matter how much you rephrase your rules of “NO FIREARMS,” will voices really do anything? Only cold rules were said, but not a message that touched the students’ hearts. No action made is equal to no improvement made. Because what do empty words do to someone who already made their mind up and went with a plan so cruel? Nothing.

Without action, words are nothing but hollow, sharp arrows going through their hearts, like Cupid’s magic didn’t work. The government continues to blame it on video games because they don’t want to face the door where they know lie the mistakes they didn’t do anything about. What the suspect did is horrible and never justified, but maybe it never would’ve happened if they loved the environment so much to the point their hearts wouldn’t go as cold and rotten to do what they did.

This doesn’t just prove how meaningless the words the government tells students are, but it proves how little of a cure they give. How little their attention span is. They only care when it’s done, never when it’s still irreversible. Programs, words, and rules are meaningless when the person already has a mindset of their own.

𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟬 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗻
✍️ Angel Pilapil

Sealing the deal, Grade 10 Stingers (JHS Division) and Purple Reign (SHS Division) bagged the gold award during the Basketball Tournament at Sports Fest on August 22, 2026.

After a half-court grind by the Grade 10 Stingers, they dominated the Grade 9 Warriors with an 18-point margin, showcasing sportsmanship, teamwork, and their passion for sports.

On the other hand, Purple Reign from the SHS Division was hailed as the champions after a blowout with a 17-point margin against the Black Panthers.

These victories contributed crucial points for their respective team — showing their testament and pride in bringing their team’s name.

📷 | Trish Khadija, Leslie Patron