Customs police personnel who owned firearms used in Ateneo de Zamboanga shooting dismissed
The Bureau of Customs has relieved a police official whose firearms were reportedly used in the deadly shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University.
A male student of AdZU brought a high-powered firearm along with a .45-caliber pistol to campus at around 8 a.m. on Aug. 18. Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso said that the gunman shot at a teacher and another student in a different classroom. Two have been confirmed dead, including the shooter himself.
In a statement, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno confirmed that the firearm allegedly used by the shooter belonged to a Customs Police personnel, who has been relieved and suspended.
Deputy commissioners have also been directed to immediately conduct a full investigation on the matter and gather all relevant documents, records, statements, and other evidence.
The agency noted that Nepomuceno had already issued directives strengthening firearm accountability, safekeeping, and gun safety protocols throughout the Bureau as early as June 2026.
"These directives required regular firearms inventories and compliance checks, reinforced the basic rules of gun safety, mandated proper firearm storage and handling, and called for continuous monitoring of personnel compliance with licensing, neuropsychological evaluation, and firearms training requirements," the statement read.
Their personnel are also subjected to quarterly compliance reporting to ensure adherence to these policies.
Following the shooting incident, Nepomuceno has ordered comprehensive accounting and inventory of all issued firearms across the Bureau and a review of compliance with all BOC policies and issuances on gun safety, firearm custody, transport, carrying, storage, and safekeeping.
The reports are required to be submitted within 24 hours.
"The Bureau of Customs remains committed to accountability, transparency, and ensuring that all necessary measures are undertaken to prevent incidents of this nature from happening again," the agency underscored.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has also directed law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident and determine what must be done to prevent school shootings.
"We will work with our schools and communities to strengthen the safeguards that protect our students and ensure that they can pursue their education without fear," he said in a statement.
"Every Filipino family deserves that assurance."
This school shooting comes two months after an incident in Tacloban, where two minors gunned down three teenage students and left 20 others wounded in June.
The Tacloban tragedy has since led to the launch of active shooting drills in public schools. AdZU, a private school, was among the many schools across the country to conduct the said drills.
