A 44-year-old driver employed by the National Bureau of Investigation has been identified as the suspect arrested in connection with a shooting incident at the Philippine Senate Wednesday night, the Southern Police District said.
The Southern Police District named the suspect as Mel Oragon. Investigators have yet to establish a motive for the shooting, which took place amid a tense standoff as authorities attempted to enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
Senator Imee Marcos, speaking on the GMA program “State of the Nation,” said the individual was apprehended after he was spotted retrieving a tactical bag left on a staircase at the Senate’s second floor, where the gunshots had been heard. Marcos described the person as an alleged NBI confidential agent and said he named a superior identified as “Atty. Bomediano” of the NBI’s Organized and Transnational Crime Division as the one who had allegedly ordered the attempt to arrest Dela Rosa.
The NBI, however, said it did not deploy any agents to the Senate. The agency’s denial stands in conflict with accounts given by senators present during the incident.
The shooting unfolded on a night of extraordinary tension at the Senate complex. Dela Rosa had been holed up in the building for two nights, livestreaming a press conference in which he pleaded not to be sent to The Hague. Allied senators had taken him into “protective custody” on Monday after he reappeared following months of absence, and 13 of 24 senators had wrested control of Senate leadership that same day.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. maintained that government personnel were not involved in the incident, saying no government forces attempted to enter the Senate to arrest Dela Rosa.
Senate President Alan Cayetano said in a video livestream that “so far everyone is safe,” including Dela Rosa, and that Senate authorities would allow people to leave “when we’re sure they are not suspects.”
The Southern Police District says its investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
