Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) is investigating the accountability of the parents and aunt of the Tacloban school shooting incident suspects.

In an interview, Remulla said the adults’ negligence led to juvenile suspects aged 14- and 15-years old’s access to the firearms used to murder three and injure 20 fellow students at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.

“Ang tinitingnan namin dito ay yung culpability ng tiyahin at ng magulang,” he said.

Initial probe of the PNP established that the 14-year-old suspect used a Glock 17 pistol owned by his aunt, a police officer in Police Regional Office (PRO) 8, while the 15-year-old suspect was armed with a .38-caliber revolver registered in a security agency in Cebu.

Remulla underscored that the responsibility of securing firearms rests on the adults to prevent young family members from gaining access to them.

The PNP said the PRO 8 police officer may face a criminal case for malversation under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code and administrative sanctions for negligence, while the security agency may face the revocation of its license to operate for failing to report a lost firearm.

The DILG Chief also said the investigation of the police organization points to bullying as a factor provoking the suspects towards the school shooting rampage. The PNP also established the influence of a certain video game on the suspects.

“Ang lumalabas sa initial feedback ay bullying gone wrong. Binu-bully daw ‘yung dalawang estudyanteng ‘yun at dahil doon ay na-influence sila sa video games,” he said.