The acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms confirmed Thursday that he was the one who discharged his firearm first during Wednesday night’s tense confrontation between Senate security personnel and National Bureau of Investigation agents near the GSIS complex in Pasay City.
Mao Aplasca, who heads the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, said he fired a warning shot aimed upward after NBI personnel in the area failed to respond as expected to verbal challenges from his staff.
“Our procedure in law enforcement is to first give a challenge or verbal warning, which we did. Second, if they cooperate with the verbal warning, then we talk to clarify why they are there, but that is not what happened,” Aplasca said in Filipino.
He said after the verbal warning went unheeded, the situation escalated. “After our verbal warning, they returned fire. Of course, we also have the right to protect ourselves, so we also fired. That resulted in an exchange of gunfire,” he added.
Aplasca’s admission aligns with separate accounts from Malacañang and the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said Thursday that Aplasca fired the first warning shot at an NBI agent on GSIS premises, while Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla made the same finding in a report read by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano at a separate briefing.
A recurring point of contention raised by Aplasca was the NBI’s failure to coordinate with Senate security despite operating in an adjacent facility. He said such coordination has been standard practice.
“Every time the NBI goes here, they coordinate with us. Yesterday, from morning until night, up to the exchange of gunfire and until they left the area, no one coordinated with us,” Aplasca said in Filipino.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag disputed the characterization of events Wednesday, maintaining that none of his agents were inside the Senate building itself. Matibag said his personnel were present at the GSIS complex at the request of GSIS officials amid rising tensions in the Senate.
The standoff unfolded two nights after Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa made a surprise appearance on the Senate floor, amid circulating reports that law enforcement teams were moving to arrest him. Dela Rosa faces an arrest order from the International Criminal Court in connection with crimes against humanity charges tied to the drug war carried out during the Duterte administration, in which he served as the first PNP chief.
His appearance on Monday also carried political weight, as his vote helped Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano secure the minimum 13 votes needed to assume the Senate’s top leadership post, displacing former Senator Vicente Sotto III.
Former Senate President Franklin Drilon, a lawyer and former justice secretary, questioned the legal basis for the Senate’s claim of “protective custody” over Dela Rosa. Speaking on DZMM, Drilon said such a privilege is available only to legislative witnesses under Philippine law, and that no existing statute grants Cayetano the authority to extend it to Dela Rosa.
Drilon attributed the broader instability to what he described as a “failure of leadership” from both Malacañang and the Senate.
Several House lawmakers echoed that view, with members from Akbayan, Mamamayang Liberal, ACT Teachers, Gabriela, and Kabataan arguing in separate statements Thursday that the Senate’s actions may have facilitated Dela Rosa’s departure from the building. Representatives Percival Cendaña, Leila de Lima, Antonio Tinio, Sarah Elago, and Renee Co said the so-called protective custody appeared to function as cover for his escape.
Aplasca, for his part, said security at the Senate has since been reinforced. “I can assure everyone, the public, the senators, and all employees and members of the Senate that the Senate is very much secured as of today,” he said.
An investigation into the exchange of gunfire remains ongoing.
