The Ombudsman has demanded from the Senate the list of media personnel who covered the 13 May shooting fiasco inside the premises, as it kicked off its motu proprio probe into the incident.
In a 15 May letter, but furnished to the Senate Public and Information Bureau only on Tuesday, 19 May, the Ombudsman sought the names, including logbook entries, of media personnel who were present at the Senate premises on 13 and 14 May.
The Ombudsman warned that a certification under oath will be sought for non-compliance.
Prior to this, Ombudsman Boying Remulla also subpoenaed copies of CCTV footage capturing the armed standoff involving Senate security and National Bureau of Investigation operatives.
The Senate descended into chaos on 13 May after several gunshots rang out in the building over the NBI’s alleged second attempt to arrest Senator Bato de la Rosa on an International Criminal Court warrant.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag has denied the so-called botched operations and insisted that NBI agents were only present at the GSIS premises—which is only beside the Senate—following a request from its President and General Manager Wick Veloso to maintain peace and order at the compound.
Before gunfire broke out, the Senate was put on a total lockdown, leaving media personnel, Senate employees, senators, and their staff inside the building.
The commotion erupted at around 7:30 p.m. on the second-floor wing of the building. Members of the press are stationed on the same floor.
Some journalists and media crew managed to get out of the building while the tensions heightened, while several others were not able to vacate the premises immediately and were trapped inside.
Initial investigation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government revealed that 32 bullets were discharged during the firefight. Of this, 27 came from the Office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, while five were from NBI.
Acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca fired the “warning shot” after allegedly spotting NBI agents breaching the second floor of the building.
Aplasca was suspended by the Ombudsman for six months without pay, though Senate President Alan Cayetano, as of Tuesday, has yet to enforce the sanction, unless Remulla also suspends Matibag.
The shooting incident came two days after the NBI agents made their first attempt to arrest De la Rosa, who made a surprise return to the chamber after six months of not reporting to work.
The scuffle allowed De la Rosa to “escape” the Senate premises before dawn on Thursday. However, members of the press who stayed outside the building did not notice him leave, aside from the vehicles of other senators and their convoys.
Reports later revealed that De la Rosa rode with Senator Robin Padilla’s vehicle, allowing him to leave unnoticed. Aplasca said their troops were informed about De la Rosa’s exit shortly after, but argued that they cannot stop him from leaving the premises.
The embattled former police chief was granted Senate protective custody prior to his sudden escape.
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