Gorebox developer Felix Filip has declined the invitation of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality to participate in its investigation into the Tacloban school shooting incident on July 1.

photo: CICC

Because of this, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who heads the panel, said she will seek the assistance of the German Embassy in the Philippines to facilitate the attendance of the developer in the upcoming Senate hearing.

“It is disappointing that Mr. Filip chose not to attend our upcoming hearing, especially since I would have liked to learn a lot from him in person,” Hontiveros said.

“My committee remains open to facilitate his attendance and participation in our investigation in case he changes his mind. Our desire to hear him does not end here,” she stressed.

In an email to the Committee Secretariat, Filip, who identified himself as a Germany-based independent game developer, informed that he would not attend the hearing, either in person or through Zoom.

Hontiveros said she was hoping to directly ask Filip about Gorebox’s guardrails, its age safeguards, content moderation and possible exposure of young users to harmful online communities or behavior. She emphasized that the issue goes beyond one developer or one game, but about setting a clear standard.

Authorities has temporarily blocked the gaming app Gorebox after initial investigation showed that one of the teenage suspect in the school shooting had been playing the game.

The senator warned that foreign-based developers and online platforms cannot be allowed to freely operate in the Philippines while evading accountability on serious child safety concerns.

“Any developer or online company that wants to operate here, profit from Filipino users, and reach Filipino children must respect our laws and our institutions,” she said.

“This should be the bare minimum for them to do business here. If they refuse to recognize our laws, then they would be held accountable too,” she stressed.

She said the Senate probe hopes to examine the broader chain of failures that may have contributed to the shooting, including possible grooming, radicalization, and normalization of violence in online platforms.

“We are not saying that this tragedy was caused by a single game. But if there is an online environment that may have been part of the children's exposure to violence, it is our duty to investigate that,” the lawmaker said.