Senator Camille Villar renewed her call for the passage of the proposed Safe Online Spaces Act, emphasizing the need for stronger measures to protect Filipino children and young people from threats both in schools and online.

“Our children should never have to enter their classrooms wondering whether they will come home safely. Schools must remain places of learning, not places of fear. But we must also recognize that the environment influencing our children no longer ends at the school gate—it follows them through their phones and into the digital spaces they enter every day,” Villar said.

Villar cited the increasing incidents of violence involving young people as she reiterated her support for Senate Bill No. 1729, or the proposed Safe Online Spaces Act. The measure aims to encourage responsible use of social media, gaming and other digital platforms, require warnings for potentially harmful online environments, and implement a mandatory parental awareness program on the risks of unrestricted access to digital platforms.

Villar said the bill forms part of her broader effort to address the risks faced by children, particularly their exposure to harmful and violent material online. She stressed that efforts to safeguard young people should extend beyond school premises to the digital platforms that increasingly influence their behavior, relationships and well-being.

Her renewed appeal came after the August 18 shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, where a student killed a fellow student before taking his own life. The student reportedly livestreamed the attack.

The incident followed the shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City less than two months earlier, where three students were killed. Weeks before that, 13-year-old Aaron Miguel Duran Ontong was fatally stabbed by a fellow student inside Las Piñas National High School.

Aside from online protections, Villar has called for improved school security and emergency preparedness, more accessible mental health and guidance services, early intervention for bullying and violent behavior, and stronger measures to prevent minors from obtaining firearms and other dangerous weapons.

Villar, who personally visited Ontong’s wake in Las Piñas earlier this month, said the recent incidents should prompt sustained action rather than temporary public outrage.

“As a mother and as a legislator, I will continue pushing for measures that protect our children wherever they are—offline and online. Protecting our children means keeping them safe in the classroom, helping them before anger or distress turns into violence, and making the digital spaces they navigate every day safer as well,” Villar said.

Under the measure, 16 years old will be the minimum age for a child to maintain a social media account. Social media platforms will be required to implement reasonable and effective age-assurance systems designed to prevent children below the prescribed age from creating or maintaining accounts.