A FATHER took to social media on Friday to call on the government to ban a mobile game after his son committed suicide for receiving low remark in a subject allegedly for being caught up with the popular game.

In an open letter written by Inocencio Mercado on Facebook, he called on the government to ban the popular mobile game Mobile Legends for containing violent graphics.

Mercado said his son was ‘consumed’ by the game, which resulted in the student having a hard time focusing on his studies

He noted his son was an academic achiever, and was devastated to receive a low remark during his first semester.

The father said he feels guilty about what happened and castigated the teachers for being inconsiderate in this time of distance learning.

Mercado claims the incident tortured his son psychologically, prompting him to take his own life.

“This failed grade, as a father, pushed me to get angry that I scolded him and confiscated his brand-new cellphone because of this Mobile Legends game that has consumed the brain and time of our kids. (It is a violent game that has lots of killings. (I hope the government restricts these violent games from our kids). I feel guilty because I didn’t try to find the reason for his failed grade,” he said on Facebook.

“And why were we not informed by the teacher of the problem? It is not fair to fail my kid, or ANY KID, during this pandemic period with remote learning especially on a subject like ESP (moral values). If you haven’t personally known your student, how can you evaluate them on his values during distant learning?” he added.

Mercado also called on educators to give their hearts to their students and understand their situation as they serve as second parents.

Netizens on the comment section of the post are split on whether Mercado has a point and if the blame should be pointed towards the teacher.

The Department of Education initially called on the public to stop linking suicide cases with the implementation of distance learning, and asked the public to get in touch’ with their loved ones in these challenging times.

It also asked on those who have immediate mental health concerns to reach out to the Department of Health for guidance.