MANILA – The June 22 school shooting in Tacloban City that left three students dead and 20 others injured highlights the need for continued national discussions on terror grooming, radicalization and violent extremism, according to a ranking official of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

In a statement on Saturday, NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said the issues are no longer confined to armed conflict in the countryside or organized terrorist groups.

“More and more, it is becoming clear that the pathways to violence are now passing through classrooms, chat groups, online communities, social media feeds, and homes where actors continuously concoct styles and methods to recruit children and youth,” he said.

Torres said the task force supports Senate Bill 1366 and House Bills 7460, 05484 and 07204, collectively known as the proposed Terror Grooming and Radicalization Prevention Acts.

According to Torres, the proposed measures seek to curb terrorism by penalizing terror grooming and radicalization, protecting vulnerable sectors and disrupting recruitment efforts before individuals become involved in terrorist activities.

“The purpose is not to criminalize children or to demonize students, activism or free expression. The proposed measures are intended to fill a perceived gap in the country’s counterterrorism framework by addressing the earliest stages of terrorist recruitment,” he said.

He added that the proposed legislation focuses on preventing the processes of grooming, indoctrination, radicalization and recruitment that allow terrorist organizations to expand their ranks rather than only addressing terrorist acts after they occur.

Torres said the bills also respond to concerns identified in intelligence and security assessments, including ideological conditioning, immersion activities, online influence operations and the exploitation of vulnerable sectors by extremist groups.

“For decades, we have seen how organized extremist movements prey on the youth. They take anger and give it ideology. They take pain and turn it into hatred. They take idealism and redirect it toward armed violence. Today, we must also contend with more creative, faster, and more hidden forms of violent influence, especially online,” he said.

Torres emphasized that the Tacloban incident should not lead to the conclusion that every child experiencing anger or emotional struggles is becoming an extremist.

He said the country instead should strengthen efforts to prevent violence before it occurs.

“In this context, the proposed legislations, deserve sober and serious discussion. Prevention is not ‘fascism’ when it is anchored on child protection, due process, human rights, and community support. Schools need stronger guidance systems, functioning child protection committees, mental health referral pathways, trained teachers, and clear early-warning protocols,” he said.

Torres added that protecting children from terror grooming and radicalization is part of safeguarding their rights to life, safety, education and a secure future.

He said schools and universities should remain places where students learn and develop without fear.

“They must never become places where fear, recruitment or violence can quietly take root,” he said.