Senate President Win Gatchalian is pushing for a separate law against nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) to address the worsening cases of online recruitment and incitement of minors to commit violence, especially within schools. According to Gatchalian, those behind NVE use social media and gaming applications to gain the trust of minors, groom them, and eventually encourage them to carry out violent crimes.
Sense of urgency for specific legislation
“There is a sense of urgency in creating a specific law against NVE, online grooming of children, and brainwashing that drives them to commit violence. We want to cooperate with the DOJ, through the Senate Committee on Women, to craft a law before the problem worsens,” Gatchalian said.
The Senate President cited the foiled plan to attack a school in Laguna involving seven minors linked to the online game Roblox, as well as the Tacloban school shooting where one of the suspects was said to be heavily influenced by the violent sandbox game GoreBox.
Existing laws insufficient
During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty acknowledged that existing laws are insufficient to address online recruitment of youth into violent extremism. Gatchalian hopes the proposed bill will be advanced immediately to prevent the spread of this type of online radicalization and protect minors from violence.
