MANILA — Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he misses the kind of discipline imposed by parents and teachers during his generation, saying it helped prevent young people from engaging in crime amid recent incidents of violence in schools.

Lacson made the remark following recent cases of school violence, including the fatal shooting at a school in Tacloban City last month.

“JUVENILE JUSTICE LAW: My generation must be missing our fathers’ belts, our mothers’ bamboo sticks and our teachers’ rulers. We were disciplined, always at home for the 6 o’clock evening prayers to receive our daily blessings from our elders. Those were the days,” Lacson wrote on X.

He said the guidance provided by parents and teachers, including what he described as “tough love,” taught children respect, responsibility and accountability from an early age.

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, lawmakers learned that the two minors involved in the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City may have been manipulated by 764, an international online network of violent extremists.

The hearing also disclosed that one of the alleged shooters reportedly shot his own best friend in the back during the incident.

According to Lacson, the Tacloban shooting was among several recent cases of violence in schools that have prompted renewed calls for measures to address youth violence and delinquency.

Lacson also recalled how he and his siblings were raised under the strict discipline of their mother, Maxima. He said she once instructed his older brother to locate and return a one-centavo coin he had found on the way home from school.

The senator added that his mother would spank him whenever he arrived home late but would later cry and remind him not to be stubborn.

Lacson said those experiences helped instill in him the values of integrity and discipline that guided him throughout his career in public service as a law enforcer and legislator.