Senate security chief suspended over shooting

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman has placed Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca under preventive suspension for six months over the discharge of firearms in the Senate premises on May 13.

Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said he ordered the suspension as the office investigates what he called “unacceptable” incidents that transpired at the Senate, where Aplasca fired warning shots when he allegedly spotted a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent in the premises.

“It’s worrisome if we allow this to go unpunished and we cannot ignore something of this magnitude,” Remulla said at a press briefing, adding that the suspension was meant to prevent “undue influence” in the investigation. 

The ombudsman said his office is forming a panel of investigators who will question all those who were present during the shooting – senators, law enforcement and the media – as well as subpoena the CCTV footage to get to the bottom of the incident.

He said his office would investigate the NBI, the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and the police to know what happened “from the perspective of the government.”

Remulla said whoever may be found liable may face several charges, including obstruction of justice, discharge of firearms, failure to maintain public order and safety within Senate premises and gross neglect of duty, aiding and abetting a fugitive.

“You can throw the book at them because it is unforgivable. For me, it’s hard to forgive what they committed,” he said.

The ombudsman said they will also investigate allegations that the whole incident was staged, noting that he received reports that Aplasca was the first one to wear a bulletproof vest, which indicated an intention to open fire.

Remulla castigated Aplasca who, he said, appeared to have instigated the commotion by being the first to open fire. Aplasca’s job was to keep the peace, but instead “he caused the commotion by discharging a firearm,” Remulla said.

“We are avoiding the impression this was a script, that it’s all a ruse – that’s what the people allege – so we must go to the bottom of it so there is no speculation. Let’s study what happened and hear it from people who were there,” Remulla added.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has dared Remulla to suspend NBI Director Melvin Matibag for sending his agents and engaging the Senate security team in a shootout.

“Let me appeal to the ombudsman: suspend also the NBI director. He is more of a suspect than General Mao,” Cayetano said on his Facebook Live. “You want an investigation? Go ahead. But the truth here is in the balance.”

Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida defended Matibag.

“I don’t see any reason why Director Matibag will be suspended or preventively suspended, given the current circumstances,” he said. “It’s not for the Department of Justice (DOJ), not within my authority to do that.”

DOJ probe panel

The DOJ has formed a special panel of prosecutors that would look into the mayhem inside the Senate building that led to Dela Rosa evading an ICC arrest warrant.

Vida said he had “directed the constitution or creation of a special panel of prosecutors to conduct a case buildup investigation into the incident,” equipped with authority to issue subpoenas, among others.

Also, the agency ordered “all concerned law enforcement agencies including PNP, particularly SOCO, NCRPO, Pasay City police station and NBI to preserve and submit within 48 hours from receipt of this order all relevant evidence and records pertaining to the series of events that transpired at the Senate complex from May 11 to 14, 2026.”

In addition, the DOJ will ask the Office the Senate sergeant-at-arms, through Senate President Cayetano, to “submit a report and turn over all relevant pieces of evidence in its possession and control, evidence that may aid the special panel including CCTV footage, ballistic and paraffin examination results, deployment records, communication logs, incident reports, witness statements and other forensic and documentary evidence.”

Vida is also resorting to crowdsourcing, urging anyone including journalists to submit video footage related to the shooting.

‘Warning shots’

Under the operational procedures of the Philippine National Police, firing warning shots during police operations is generally prohibited, except in three circumstances when the life of a PNP personnel is in danger.

“First, if the PNP member is outnumbered. Second, if he is overpowered and third, if his life is at risk,” national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said, quoting from the 2021 Revised PNP Operational Procedures Manual.

PNP Directorate for Operations deputy director Brig. Gen. Alan Manibog said warning shots should be avoided as these could injure people.

“It can create confusion or stray bullets that we don’t know where they will hit,” Manibog said, noting that there are other means to alert an opposing side, such as megaphones and whistles.

Investigators are recovering closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the Senate as part of the probe on the gunfire incident on Wednesday, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

“We are in the process of recovering. We will have the final report ready by Wednesday,” Remulla told reporters on Viber.

Aplasca said there is no CCTV footage showing OSAA or the Philippine Marines’ position in the building.

Remulla said they have footage from media outfits, which probers are studying.

PNP spokesman Tuaño said CCTV footage from the Senate was turned over to the Anti-Cybercrime Group for preservation and analysis.

“This is currently being analyzed and the results will be submitted to the investigation composite team,” he said.

NBI deployed at GSIS, not Senate

NBI operatives were at the GSIS building in Pasay when the Senate sergeant-at-arms first made the warning shots, based on footage from reporters who joined the agents on Wednesday night.

Matibag had been insisting from the get-go that not a single NBI agent was ordered to go inside the Senate premises to arrest Dela Rosa.

Instead, the bureau was only responding to a request from GSIS president and general manager Wick Veloso, according to a letter obtained by The STAR.

Around 6 p.m., NBI operatives arrived at the GSIS building, where they caught carpentry staff drilling a door that turned out to be a passageway between the GSIS and Senate offices.

Matibag said Veloso had wanted the door permanently closed to protect GSIS employees.

Moments later, multiple gunshots rang out. Reporters were asked to take cover. One NBI agent then said it was Aplasca who was firing the shots directed at the operatives.

According to the report, Aplasca suddenly emerged from a door at the side of the Senate building and opened fire at the bridgeway on the second floor of the GSIS building. NBI agents had no choice but to return fire.

After a few minutes, NBI operatives departed the building. No one sustained injuries. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, EJ Macababbad, Emmanuel Tupas, Ghio Ong