THE Department of Justice (DoJ) has recommended criminal charges against a police officer whose government-issued firearm was allegedly used by a child in a June school shooting in Tacloban City that killed three students and injured at least 20 others.
The Tacloban City prosecutor’s office recommended charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries against Police Staff Sergeant Arla Ray Pacencia on Aug. 20, the DoJ said on Tuesday.
“The corresponding Information will be filed with the Family Court, Regional Trial Court of Tacloban City,” DoJ spokesman Raphael Niccolo “Polo” L. Martinez told reporters via Viber.
The filing date has not been set because the Office of the City Prosecutor of Tacloban City must first determine when to submit the information to the court, he said.
The charges stem from a complaint filed by parents and students of San Jose National High School following the June 22 shooting, where two minors, aged 14 and 15, allegedly opened fire inside at least two classrooms.
Ms. Pacencia is the aunt of the 14-year-old who allegedly used her government-issued 9mm Glock 17 pistol in the shooting.
Fifteen of the injured students suffered gunshot wounds, while five others were hurt during the panic and commotion, according to authorities.
The other minor was allegedly armed with a .38-caliber revolver traced to a security agency in Cebu. Both minors were taken into custody and became subject to separate proceedings under the juvenile justice system.
The case comes amid concerns over a series of violent incidents involving students.
Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida said during a House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations hearing on Monday that authorities were seeing a pattern in school violence involving students in recent months.
Last week, a 14-year-old Grade 8 student at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School allegedly opened fire on campus, killing another student before taking his own life.
Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” C. Remulla earlier said the student livestreamed the shooting on Facebook and another website.
“From the pattern that he used a live video and put it on a website, it seems the child was radicalized,” Mr. Remulla told reporters a day after the incident.
He said authorities were investigating the website where the shooting was livestreamed.
Mr. Vida also warned about online influences that could expose children to violent behavior, saying some people seek to draw young people into online spaces where violent content and ideas are amplified.
The DoJ said it trusts that the criminal proceedings would follow due process for all parties. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez