Bomb Threats Hit Metro Schools After South Cotabato Shooting; NBI Reports Arrests

Less than a week after a deadly campus shooting in South Cotabato, bomb threats and security alerts disrupted classes at schools in Metro Manila and Biliran—while the NBI told senators it had taken into custody a person linked to the Cotabato case and a suspected online groomer in Cebu.

Police said no explosives were found at the campuses that received bomb threats, according to Philstar.

FEU Manila and Alabang, Don A. Roces, Biliran

Philstar reported threats forced suspensions and heightened security at FEU Manila (Morayta) and Alabang (Muntinlupa), Don A. Roces High School in Quezon City, and Biliran Province State University Laboratory High School. MPD and local police EOD/canine units found no bombs. An investigation is underway on the Facebook post that scared Don A. Roces HS. In Biliran, police are validating a letter claiming several students were planning an attack.

Philstar linked the scare to recent school violence, including the Sept. 18 shooting at Banga National High School in South Cotabato that left three students dead.

NBI: Cotabato Link and Cebu Groomer Suspect

At a Senate DOJ budget hearing, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said the bureau had gotten hold of a person “somehow related” to what happened in South Cotabato (Philstar / Inquirer). He said the NBI is monitoring the deep and dark web and investigating nihilistic violent extremist cases tied to grooming of teen shooters in Tacloban, Zamboanga City, and South Cotabato.

The NBI also apprehended a suspected groomer in Cebu. Inquirer reported Matibag’s further account that the alleged Cebu groomer—described as 16 years old—had been communicating with someone at another South Cotabato school to encourage a copycat attack, and that a rescue of 10 people from the suspect’s group could follow. Matibag asked senators to consider raising the NBI’s confidential fund—from P175 million toward as much as P1 billion in the proposed 2027 budget.

PNP Eyes Nationwide School Alert System

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. is exploring institutionalizing Calabarzon’s B.E.S.T. school alert system—already lined up for at least 155 Calabarzon schools—nationwide, coordinating with DICT (Philstar).