Senator Rodante Marcoleta has advised against rushing to blame video games for the recent fatal school shooting in Tacloban City, pressing lawmakers to thoroughly investigate all facets of the tragedy before making definitive judgments.
During a television appearance, Marcoleta observed that some of his fellow lawmakers immediately pointed fingers at video games, specifically the title GoreBox, following the June 22 tragedy.
“May mga ibang mga kasamahan ako sa Senado, mabilis silang magpasya, mabilis silang humatol na ang kanilang sinisisi, ay yun daw mga video games,” Marcoleta said.
He cautioned that leveling accusations without solid proof risks unfairly tarnishing individuals or entire industries that might not bear any direct blame for the crime.
“Ako, para sa akin, bago ka gumawa ng ganoong klaseng paglalatag o pagbibigay ng hatol, ay pakaisipin mong mabuti,” Marcoleta said.
The freshman lawmaker maintained that consuming action-heavy entertainment does not naturally lead a person to commit acts of violence.
Marcoleta also pushed back against the criticism aimed at international game creators. He emphasized that GoreBox is a globally available game developed in Germany and distributed on major platforms like Steam and Google Play, rather than a title created intentionally for Filipino consumers.
He further noted that the game is already explicitly rated for players aged 18 and older.
Rather than attacking the creator, Marcoleta suggested that investigators evaluate if adequate security measures were enforced to block minors from downloading age-gated media.
He noted that agencies like the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) should review whether such digital content required stricter domestic regulation before reaching children.
Highlighting public pushback against the rapid finger-pointing, the senator remarked that many citizens felt critics were simply “barking up the wrong tree.”
“Mabigat yung paratang na yun. Kailangan, lalo na kung ikaw ay member ng Senado, eh huwag kang mabilis magpasya. Aralin mo. Para sa ganun ay walang mapahamak,” Marcoleta said.
While Marcoleta refrained from naming specific colleagues, Senator Risa Hontiveros recently shared that the German developer behind GoreBox—Felix Filip—had declined an invitation to join the July 1 Senate inquiry led by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality.
Hontiveros announced plans to coordinate with the German Embassy in Manila to help secure the developer’s cooperation in the ongoing legislative probe.