Banning Violent Video Games is a Lazy Substitute for Active Parenting

The school shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City is a terrible tragedy. Three students lost their lives, and twenty more were injured. The two suspects are only 14 and 15 years old. In the face of such a horrific event, everyone wants answers.

Yet, instead of looking at the real issues, local authorities did what they always do. They blamed violent video games.

When police found out that the 14-year-old suspect played GoreBox, an 18+ mobile title, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center quickly blocked the game in the Philippines. Now, the issue has reached the Senate. Senator Risa Hontiveros invited the game creator, Felix Filip, to a July 1 hearing.

Filip, an independent developer based in Germany, politely declined via email. He noted that the game is made for adults and that he is already cooperating with real law enforcement. In response, Senator Risa announced she will ask the German Embassy to help force him to join.

For the record, I love Senator Risa. I am a dedicated supporter who proudly voted for her and Former Vice President Leni Robredo in the past elections. I believe in her progressive platform, which is why watching this happen is deeply frustrating. I cannot get behind her on this one. This move is pure political theater. It shows a complete misunderstanding of technology, and it risks alienating the young Gen Z and Millennial voters she needs for a future national run.

A Playbook from 1992

This is not the first time politicians have used violent video games to cover up real-world violence. In fact, the Philippine Senate is running a very old script.

Back in 1992, the original Mortal Kombat game came out. It featured realistic blood and brutal finish moves called Fatalities. It caused a massive moral panic in the United States. By 1993, American senators dragged gaming executives to a congressional hearing, threatening to censor the whole industry.

To stop the government from taking over, the gaming industry created the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, in 1994. For over thirty years, this system has successfully kept mature games away from children by putting clear age labels on boxes and digital stores.

The global gaming market already solved this problem three decades ago. Trying to recreate this political circus in the Philippines in 2026 makes no sense.

What the Science Actually Shows

The panic over violent video games also ignores decades of actual research. In 2019, the University of Oxford conducted a massive study on teenagers and gaming. Unlike older, flawed research, Oxford did not just ask kids about their own habits. They combined real gameplay data with behavioral checklists filled out by the kids' parents.

The conclusion was clear. There is no link between playing violent video games and real-world adolescent aggression.

Even the American Psychological Association issued an official update warning politicians and the media to stop blaming mass shootings on video games. The group stated that doing so is not scientifically sound, and it takes attention away from the real causes of violence.

The Systems Already Exist

During her statements, Senator Risa said that online platforms cannot profit from Filipinos while evading accountability. But violent games are already heavily restricted.

Mainstream platforms like Steam, the Google Play Store, and the Apple App Store require developers to list age ratings. Mature games are clearly labeled as 18+ titles. These storefronts have built-in age gates that require users to enter their birth dates before downloading mature content. Most video games available in the Philippines have been rated by the ESRB and CERO.

We do not need a new local government agency to re-rate games, and we do not need to waste taxpayer money duplicating systems that already work. We just need to follow what is written on the label.

The industry has also given parents incredible, foolproof tools to manage what their kids play. Take the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app as an example. Through a free smartphone app, a parent can completely control a child's console from anywhere.

Parents can set a hard daily time limit. If a child ignores the warning, the parent can tap a button on their phone to instantly freeze the game. Parents can also lock the entire system based on age ratings. If a console is locked to a pre-teen setting, an adult-rated game will simply refuse to open unless an adult enters a master PIN. The app even blocks online voice chat and sends weekly activity reports to the parent's phone.

The tools are flawless. The system only breaks down when adults fail to use them. Real accountability belongs in the home, not in a Senate hall. Parents must step up to actively guide, monitor, and watch over their children's digital lives instead of letting the internet raise them. A government ban on violent video games is a lazy substitute for active parenting.

The Danger of Shifting the Blame

By focusing so hard on software from Germany, the Senate is actively hiding the severe, local breakdowns that occurred right here in our own backyard.

Violent video games did not hand those two teenagers their weapons. The minors stole a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol from a relative who is an active-duty police officer. They also took a .38 caliber revolver from a grandfather who worked as a security guard. Furthermore, police reports show that the 14-year-old suspect did not learn to shoot on a screen. An adult had previously taken him to a real, physical firing range to practice with live firearms.

The investigation also revealed that the suspects spent over a month planning the attack due to severe school bullying. They even studied the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act to see how their age would protect them from legal liability.

These are deep, painful, systemic failures. We have an issue with unsecured law enforcement weapons, a massive lack of mental health resources in regional public schools, and a failure to protect kids from extreme bullying.

Senator Risa is highly respected by young progressives for fighting for youth welfare and the Mental Health Act. Her supporters expect her committee to grill the police force about gun security and push for real guidance counselors in public schools.

Chasing a solo game developer through the German Embassy is a traditional, out-of-touch move. It ignores the real issues, wastes time, and treats a physics sandbox like a mass murder simulator. If the progressive opposition wants to keep the trust of the gaming generation, they need to drop the boomer-tier tech panic and focus on fixing our actual society.