The camp of Senator Bato de la Rosa is adamant that agents of the National Bureau of Investigation are the perpetrators behind the shooting at the Senate building on late Wednesday.
De la Rosa’s counsel, Atty. Jimmy Bondoc, claimed to have seen an “NBI” logo on the vests of the armed men who allegedly fired shots inside the building.
“As a lawyer, we’ve been very careful to show respect to the agencies. But how are we supposed to react? We were there [when] there was shooting; we were running. It was really like a war zone,” he told reporters partly in Filipino in a chance interview outside the Senate building.
"The footage we saw and the few glimpses we had, we saw NBI [logo] in the vests they were wearing," he added.
The speculation follows NBI’s botched attempt to arrest De la Rosa on Monday on an International Criminal Court warrant.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag, however, denied that there were NBI agents deployed to the Senate when the commotion occurred.
Although he noted that he sent around four to six agents to the Government Service Insurance System, which is only beside the Senate, at the supposed request of GSIS President Wick Veloso.
Matibag also added that the NBI agents were unarmed and were likely already returned to headquarters when the shooting occurred.
Prior to the firing, a drilling noise echoed on the walls of the Senate, sparking speculations that NBI was invading the chamber in an attempt to arrest De la Rosa after the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order sought by the senator’s camp to block its enforcement.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said some armed men entered the Senate building prior to the shooting. In response, the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) fired a warning shot.
Multiple gunshots rang out within the halls of the Senate, triggering panic among members of the press, Senate employees, and senators themselves, who were still inside the building during the firing.
The commotion erupted shortly after the Senate adjourned its session.
Despite this, there were no reported casualties, according to Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza.
Meanwhile, Bondoc assured that De la Rosa is safe and sound and will remain under the Senate's protective custody despite the chaos. Their camp also finds compromise in the assurance of Remulla that they will provide necessary safeguards to De la Rosa.