A video clip that went viral online has put Senator Jinggoy Estrada on the defensive, after he was overheard telling colleagues to hide closed-circuit television footage from the night Senate security personnel exchanged gunfire with individuals believed to be agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Estrada pushed back against the interpretation Friday, insisting the remark — “Itago niyo ‘yung CCTV” — was made amid the confusion immediately after shots were fired, and was intended to support, not undermine, the preservation of video evidence.
“Agarang ipinag-utos ni Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano ang pag-secure ng CCTV footage, habang maririnig din sa video ang pagtatanong ni Sen. Loren Legarda kung nahagip ng CCTV ang pangyayari,” Estrada said in a statement. “Ang konteksto ng usapan ay malinaw, direkta, at walang anumang bahid ng ibang kahulugan,” he added.
The clip surfaced as part of a broader wave of skepticism over the shooting, with netizens and some observers questioning whether the incident had been staged. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, following an on-site investigation, confirmed that the Senate’s Sergeant-at-Arms fired the first shot as a warning, which was then followed by unidentified individuals firing shots in the air. Senate President Cayetano later said the Sergeant-at-Arms fired a total of 27 shots, while the NBI-linked individuals fired five.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag denied that any of his agents fired shots, said NBI personnel in the area had no firearms, and stated that no order existed to arrest dela Rosa that evening. He also cited a standing agreement with Cayetano that the bureau would stand down.
Matibag offered a separate explanation for the armed presence inside the compound, saying the men were there at the request of Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso — significant because the Senate occupies a GSIS-owned building.
The incident unfolded against a tense backdrop: NBI agents had previously been cited in contempt by the Senate after pursuing dela Rosa through the building’s hallways in an attempt to serve an ICC arrest warrant. The warrant, issued by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I on November 6, 2025, and unsealed May 11, 2026, names dela Rosa as an indirect co-perpetrator in a crime against humanity of murder committed between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018.
