Malacañang has encouraged the media to exercise the “highest level of caution” when reporting incidents involving minors that could encourage “copycat” acts.

In a Palace briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 19, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro emphasized the need to be careful when presenting such cases, noting that they could be imitated.

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez reiterated their position that "in incidents involving minors, all state media must exercise the highest level of caution in how such tragedies are reported."

"We will not impose restrictions on private media organizations, however, we respectfully appeal to them to exercise extreme care and responsibility in their coverage," Gomez said.

"In particular, we asked for restraint in reporting that may compromise the dignity, safety and privacy of minors, the bereaved families and the ongoing response and investigation efforts and to avoid details that may encourage copycat acts,” Gomez added.

Castro, on the other hand, pointed out that tragic incidents, such as the recent shooting in schools, could be imitated "with young people thinking that at that age, they cannot be imprisoned."

"Hindi po kasi ito ang dapat na talagang naituturo natin sa ating mga kabataan. Ang dapat nating itinuturo ay ang tamang pag-uugali, paano igalang ang ating mga kapwa at kung paano makitungo sa ating mga kaklase, sa ating mga guro, sa mga elders (That is not what we should be teaching our young people. What we should be teaching them is proper behavior, how to respect others and how to treat their classmates, teachers, and elders)," Castro said.

She also reminded the public not to draw any conclusions about an incident until the information is validated.

According to Castro, the Department of Education (DepEd) will conduct a nationwide safety drill in schools on Aug. 25.

"Ang focus natin ay prevention. Maagapan ang anumang banta, mabilis na reporting, tamang assessment at close coordination para sa agarang police response (Our focus is on prevention. Addressing any threat before it escalates, ensuring prompt reporting, proper assessment, and close coordination for an immediate police response)," Castro said, adding that concerned agencies. local government units, and the police are in close coordination to ensure safety in schools.

"May mga operational details din tayong hindi na muna puwedeng ilabas para hindi makompromiso ang security measures at maiwasan ang unnecessary alarm sa publiko (There are also operational details that we cannot disclose for now, as doing so could compromise security measures and cause unnecessary alarm among the public)," Castro added.

The Palace spokesperson said that strengthening security in schools is one of the areas the DepEd will focus on and allocate funding for.

According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget provides funding that schools may use for security requirements as part of their regular operations.

For public schools, funding for security services is generally lodged under their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) and regular programs, rather than being presented as a single, separate budget item labeled “school security.”

"So maasahan po na mayroon pong ilalaan na pondo para sa mas pinaigting na seguridad sa ating mga kabataan lalung-lalo na sa mga eskuwelahan (So, we can expect that funding will be allocated for enhanced security for our young people, particularly in schools)," Castro said.