The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has identified a group of alleged online “groomers” who may be recruiting and influencing minors to carry out violent attacks including school shootings amid recent incidents in Tacloban City and Zamboanga City.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag said the bureau first detected the alleged group during its investigation into the deadly shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.
“Yung groomers na ito, sa Tacloban pa lang nakita na ng NBI ito. So nakita na namin, sinusundan na namin ito,” Matibag said in a press conference.
He said the NBI had received initial information that another violent incident could occur, which later happened.
“We already have initial reports na maulit pa ito may mangyayari pa, at nangyari na nga. And we know that in the next few months meron ulit sila pang pinaplano,” Matibag said.
Matibag said the NBI had also gained access to a group chat allegedly used by the group although it later collapsed.
“It’s just unfortunate, napasok namin ang group chat ng mga ito, but nag-collapse yung group na yan for some reason,” he said.
The NBI is conducting a parallel investigation into the shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University and is reviewing CCTV footage to establish what happened.
Meanwhile, Matibag said he would also raise questions with Meta officials during a meeting in Singapore particularly on how the actual shooting was livestreamed and who watched or shared the footage.
“What puzzled me is yung pag-live ng actual shooting. So I want to know who are the people watching, sino ang mga nag-share, and what is the reason for sharing,” Matibag said.
“We will do a lot of profiling here,” he added.
Matibag said the NBI would seek Meta’s assistance in tracking the alleged group by noting that the social media company has greater technical capacity to help in the investigation.
He also thanked the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center for sharing information with the NBI.
Matibag described the alleged grooming process as one that begins with building relationships with potential targets and gathering personal information about them.
“Initially they will be very friendly, titignan yung profile mo, titignan yung pamilya mo, your capability, then doon na, tinuturo na,” he said.
Also, the NBI is also looking into the circumstances surrounding the Zamboanga shooting, including the ownership and handling of the firearm and the school’s safety protocols.
“Who owns the gun? Kung bakit ganoon yung naging handling? Ano yung safety protocols ng institution?” Matibag said.
He said the initial review of CCTV footage raised more questions than answers.
“Initially I’ve seen the CCTV but it leaves me more questions rather than answers. So we’ll not stop there, we’ll investigate this,” Matibag said.
He said the NBI would examine both the perpetrators and the circumstances that may have contributed to minors becoming vulnerable to alleged online grooming and gaining access to firearms.#