Imee asks Marcos to suspend Matibag, NBI officials over alleged 'Senate siege'

Senator Imee Marcos on Thursday asked President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to suspend three officials of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), including Director Melvin Matibag, over the shooting incident at the Senate building.

In her letter addressed to the President, the senator expressed "serious concern" over what she described as an "alleged siege and firing of shots by NBI" that caused "public alarm and raised grave questions on the security of the Senate and the accountability of law enforcement officers involved."

In her letter, she urged the President that the following officials be temporarily relieved from their duties pending a possible probe on the matter:

• NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag
• NBI-National Capital Region Chief Atty. Emeterio Dongallo, Jr.
• NBI-Organized and Transnational Crime Division Chief Atty. Jerome Bomediano

"Such temporary relief is necessary to preserve the integrity and credibility of the investigation and to remove any appearance of undue influence or impropriety," Imee said.

A driver employed at the NBI has been arrested in relation to the shooting.

Initial investigation showed that the suspect, allegedly armed with an undetermined caliber of gun, fired several gunshots inside the Senate building, causing panic and alarm among people in the area at around 7:50 p.m. inside within the GSIS Compound

However, Matibag has previously said that there were no agents deployed at the Senate following the gunshots heard at the chamber’s premises on Wednesday evening. The NBI also said that its officials were in a three-day fellowship event in a hotel.

But the senator said these are mere "claims."

""Public concern has been heightened by the inconsistent public statements of Director Matibag, including claims that NBI personnel were merely at Sequoia Hotel for a fellowship, despite reports and videos allegedly showing NBI agents in or within the Senate premises," Imee said.

"These conflicting accounts make it all the more important that the investigation proceed free from any perceived interference," it added. —VAL, GMA News