Police to file case vs one suspect in daylight stabbing; five others to be returned to parents
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/9 July 2026) — Only one from the six suspected out of school youths involved in the stabbing of two students of the Emilio Ramos National High School last Monday will be slapped with a criminal case, the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) said.
DCPO spokesperson PMaj Ma. Theresita Gaspan told the AFP-PNP Press Corps forum at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday that the decision was through the recommendation of the City Social Welfare and Development Office.
The suspect, alias Justin, will be slapped with a case as investigators formally determine motive, while the rest will be returned to their parents or homes after social worker intervention.
“Ang mga bata, actually gi-turn over sa CSWDO and after sa assessment on discernment, ang isa lang ang ma proceed ang kaso (the minors were turned over to the CSWDO and after assessment on discernment, only one was recommended for filing of a case), Gaspan said.
“Katong the rest, i-turn over sila sa parents after sa intervention program na ihatag sa ilaha sa CSWDO (the rest will be returned to their parents after social worker interventions),” she said.
Justin was the one positively identified by the two victims as the person who stabbed them. The victims are both minors, aged 15.
The DCPO said in its social media page on Tuesday morning that two students had just left the campus and were walking home from school at around 4:20 p.m. on Monday when they were suddenly attacked by a group of male teens.
One victim sustained three stab wounds to his back, while his companion suffered one stab wound. Both were brought to the Southern Philippines Medical Center for treatment.
The DCPO and school authorities said those who stabbed the victims were out-of-school youth.
The stabbing incident sparked a violent response from students who saw the stabbing at Mamay corner Diamond Ave. in Barangay Angliongto.
The stabbing led to a scuffle between the six suspects and scores of students who responded in kind, the students apparently defending the victims.
The students ganged up on the suspects they could apprehend and those who were trying to escape the mob were pelted with rocks.
At one point, a female student who tried to intervene lost her balance and fell face-first to the ground. Some hailed passing tricycles.
Bystanders, seemingly consisting of faculty and nearby workers, tried to de- escalate the tension, but chaos had erupted in multiple locations along the busy street corner at the same time, as shown in footage recorded by a passerby.
It was unclear if the youths in civilian clothes were students, though some minors in civilian attire appeared to be.
A person who appeared in the video said he was minding his own business and was stabbed. He was in civilian clothes but was apparently one of the students.
Police from Station 4 (Sasa) launched a “rescue” of the minor-suspects in San Jose, Buhangin, around 1.5 kilometers away from the crime scene. Six were arrested hours later. Police also recovered the Swiss Army knife used in the stabbing incident.
Romeo Ticar, school principal said in an interview over Super Radyo Davao on Tuesday, that the stabbing could be connected with an incident last Friday, which had already been resolved at the school administration level.
Last week, one of the students had received a threat. The school intervened because “harsh words,” such as “dunggabon ta ka ron” (I will stab you now) were uttered between one of the victims and another student, the school head said.
He said the conflict was settled within the campus. But Ticar said the students likely brought the conflict outside the campus. It was possible, he added, that the suspects were tasked to settle the score outside the campus.
Ticar said they were working on next steps to address the fears of parents and students about the safety of their students in and out of the school. (Yas Ocampo /MindaNews)
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