Driver nabbed in Senate shooting was a volunteer, not an 'official' NBI employee —Matibag

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Melvin Matibag on Thursday said that the driver who was arrested following the shooting incident at the Senate on Wednesday night was not an official employee of the agency.

Matibag was referring to Mel Oragon, who was identified in a police report as a 44-year-old Filipino male supposedly employed as a driver at the NBI.

Matibag said that upon investigation, he found out that Oragon was only a “volunteer” for the NBI and only served as a driver of the group that was deployed to the Senate.

“Vinalidate po namin ang aming records ng aming mga ahente at mga employees, siya po ay hindi opisyal na empleyado na NBI,” Matibag said.

(We have validated our records of our agents and employees, he is not an official NBI employee.)

“Ngunit nung nagkaroon na po ako ng sariling imbestigasyon, lumalabas na siya ay parang volunteer kasama ng mga ahente,” he added.

(But when I did my own investigation, it turned out that he was like a volunteer with the agents.)

Initial investigation showed that Oragon, 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.

Police said the suspect was subdued and arrested by members of the Senate Security Detachment.

Matibag said that the gun that Oragon held was only supposedly "given" to him.

“Kung allowed humawak ng baril, ‘yun po kasi nung nakita na naglalakad, pinahawak. Pero ‘yung actual naman na pangyayari wala naman po siyang access po doon sa baril na hawak hawak po niya,” he said.

(If he was allowed to hold a gun, that's when he was seen walking, he was asked to hold it. But in the actual incident, he didn't have access to the gun he was holding.) —VAL, GMA News