Tacloban City, Philippines — Justice Department prosecutors have filed 10 additional murder-related charges against the 15-year-old student accused in the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School, which killed three students and injured about 20 others. Prosecutors determined the teen, now identified only as a child in conflict with the law due to confidentiality rules, acted with discernment and in apparent conspiracy with a 14-year-old classmate when he opened fire on campus using a .38-caliber revolver. The new charges — four counts of frustrated murder and six counts of attempted murder — add to earlier murder complaints and will be filed before the Regional Trial Court in Tacloban City, with prosecutors recommending bail of ₱72,000 per frustrated-murder count and ₱36,000 per attempted-murder count. The 14-year-old, legally exempt from criminal liability due to his age, remains under a Department of Social Welfare and Development intervention program instead. Both minors are currently under the custody of a rehabilitation facility. The case has renewed national conversation around youth violence, with authorities also pursuing separate charges against an adult relative whose firearm was used in the attack. Read More
