Narratives have clashed since the Senate mayhem last Wednesday night, with the dominant media spin branding the entire episode, gunshots and all, as staged. The irony is that the man at the center of that staging is President Bongbong Marcos himself. 

The operation began Monday with the National Bureau of Investigation’s dramatic chase and attempted bundling of Senator Bato dela Rosa to The Hague — and Marcos, in his own Wednesday night address, all but confirmed that he was running it.

The gunfire Wednesday night, by the most credible accounts from senators and media who were there, was an exchange that was ignited after the warning shots against an apparent NBI breach attempt. The ones who pulled the trigger were the Senate’s own security detail, Marines included.

Senator Imee Marcos said an NBI operative was supposedly caught and named his superior, lawyer Jerome Bomediano, as ordering them to storm the Senate and arrest Senator Bato “no matter what happens and regardless of who gets hurt.”

Bomediano is chief of the NBI’s Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division.

The Senate leadership said an investigation into the shooting incident would have to sift through conflicting narratives and online speculation.

“Since last night, when (Interior and Local Government) Secretary Jonvic (Remulla) came here, we’ve been hearing conspiracy theories from both sides,” Senate Alan President Peter Cayetano said.

He said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. personally called and assured him that the government was not behind the incident, while he, in turn, raised concerns over alleged inconsistencies in statements issued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Both Marcos and Cayetano agreed to hold a joint independent investigation.

The Senate chief also dismissed online reports claiming that only the chamber’s security personnel fired shots during the incident. 

Authorities should respond quickly to misinformation targeting both the government and the Senate to preserve public trust in the ongoing investigation.

Cayetano confirmed that gunshots were fired from both sides during the confrontation inside the Senate building based on video footage and initial accounts relayed to him.

Arrests had been made in connection with the incident, although he declined to provide details pending the investigation.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his address after the incident, said, “I called the NBI and asked Matibag, were you the ones who entered?”

Marcos also disclosed that NBI personnel stationed near the Senate compound had been instructed to leave before the incident unfolded, indicating that he was not merely a passive observer briefed after the fact.

In his televised statement, Marcos admitted: “Ang NBI sinabihan ko, noong lumabas yung resolution ng Supreme Court, ay sinabi ko na umalis na kayo diyan. At nag-comply naman sila.” (“I told the NBI, right after the Supreme Court resolution came out, to get out of there. And they complied.”)

The “it was staged” narrative is damage control — floated after the original script visibly fell apart.

Which leaves the $64,000 question: whose loose lips will sink the ship?