Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca has accused the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) of cherry-picking CCTV clips on the 13 May shooting inside the Senate, saying the agency used “spliced videos” to support its claim that there was “no attack” on the chamber.
In an interview on Wednesday, Aplasca said the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSSA) will release the full CCTV footage to contradict the DILG's allegation that there was “no attack” on the Senate on 13 May.
“We are preparing the complete video because what they did [was] splice the video and selected the clips that would support their narrative. I think that’s not correct,” Aplasca told reporters.
Aplasca fired the “warning shot” that started the gunfire in a corridor of the Senate building after National Bureau of Investigation agents allegedly attempted to enter from the GSIS side of the building complex.
The Senate security personnel said they believed the NBI agents would attempt to serve an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa.
Aplasca was suspended for six months by the Ombudsman last week, with Senate President Alan Cayetano insisting that NBI Director Melvin Matibag also be suspended.
In the first briefing following the gunfire incident, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla maintained that there was no assault on the Senate, contrary to the claims of Cayetano and Aplasca.
Remulla said the NBI agents were deployed to the GSIS side of the complex on the request of GSIS President Wick Veloso’s request for security in the face of the controversy rocking the Senate.
Remulla said the NBI agents were not wearing tactical gear or equipment to breach the door leading to the Senate.
Initial investigation showed the confrontation began after Aplasca opened the door leading to the area where NBI agents were positioned, confronted one of them, and fired shots in their direction.
Remulla said Aplasca fired the first of three shots in the direction of the NBI agents. This prompted one NBI agent to return fire, which investigators said was not an offensive action.
The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said it will recommend criminal charges against Aplasca and two other OSSA personnel.
Aplasca dismissed this as “expected.”
On Wednesday, the PNP-CIDG summoned several OSSA officials for questioning but Aplasca was a no-show.
Aplasca said his lawyers requested an extension as “they are not prepared.”
“But they already provided all of the evidence. It is not true that we are withholding evidence [like] the CCTV and our firearms.” Aplasca said.
