(UPDATE) THE Senate on Monday received the Ombudsman’s order suspending Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca and the request for the video footage of the May 13 shooting incident at the chamber.
Two Ombudsman personnel went to the Senate to serve the suspension order on Aplasca and seek a copy of the CCTV.
“I just got the report that they have received both the order for preventive suspension and the subpoena on the CCTV (closed circuit television) footage,” Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said in a text message.
Aplasca admitted firing a warning shot upon seeing a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent just outside a bridge connecting the Senate and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) buildings.
In a chance interview, Aplasca said he was thankful that no one was hurt during the incident.
“Thank you also to the media. I hope the issues would be clarified. Let us not act as the obstacle in allowing the people learn what really happened,” he said in Filipino.
Sen. Imee Marcos earlier urged her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to relieve NBI Director Melvin Matibag and two others over the agency’s alleged involvement in the shooting incident.
The senator also sought the relief of NBI National Capital Region Chief Emeterio Dongallo Jr. and NBI-Organized and Transnational Crime Division Chief Jerome Bomediano “in view of the seriousness of these allegations and without prejudging the outcome of any investigation.”
“Public concern has been heightened by the inconsistent public statements of Director Matibag, including claims that NBI personnel were merely at Sequioa Hotel for a fellowship, despite reports and videos allegedly showing NBI agents in or within the Senate premises,” she said.
“These conflicting accounts make it all the more important that the investigation proceed free from any perceived interference,” Sen. Marcos added.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday said his legal team was looking at three legal options to address the Ombudsman order to suspend Aplasca.
Cayetano cited some legal opinions on the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
“And then, there are certain officials who can be suspended or not [by the Ombudsman],” Cayetano said in Filipino and English during a press briefing.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla criticized Aplasca’s actions, stressing that the Office of the Sergeant at Arms (OSAA) is considered the Senate’s “security guard.” “In the end, his only work is to secure the Senate to make sure that the rules are followed. To [fire] a warning shot at law enforcement, he thinks he is above the law,” Remulla said.
He said Aplasca could face charges of obstruction of justice, failure to maintain public order and safety in the Senate, gross neglect of duty, and aiding or abetting a criminal or a fugitive from justice.
