OSAA issued verbal warning to armed men at Senate —Aplasca 

Personnel from the Office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) issued a verbal warning first against the armed men at the Senate’s premises on Wednesday, said Senate Sergeant-at-Arms retired Police Major General Mao Aplasca.

Aplasca said that they received reports of armed individuals, whom he claimed as agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), at the Senate’s premises.

“Ito po ay na-confirm namin sa aming CCTV at saka, ako rin mismo bumaba ako sa GSIS gate. Nakita ko yung mga NBI agents na fully armed,” he said in an interview with “24 Oras.”

(We confirmed this through our CCTV, and I also personally went down to the GSIS gate. I saw the NBI agents who were fully armed.)

Aplasca also confirmed that he was the one who later issued a warning shot to the armed men. He said that the warning shot is part of their standard operating procedure.

“Una muna ay verbal warning. So chinallenge ko kung sino sila, sumagot naman na they are NBI agents. Pero sinabi namin na ‘bakit kayo armado? Ibaba niyo mga baril niyo.’ Instead of lowering down their firearms, eh tinaas nila yung baril kaya nagpaputok kami ng warning shot,” he said.

(First, there was a verbal warning. I challenged them on who they were, and they responded that they are NBI agents. But we asked, ‘Why are you armed? Lower your guns.’ Instead of lowering their firearms, they raised their guns, which is why we fired a warning shot.)

“Pagkatapos namin mag-warning shot, ine-expect namin na ibaba nila. But instead gumanti sila ng pagbabaril sa amin, kaya napaatras kami nang kaunti at doon na po, tuloy-tuloy na yung exchange of gunfire,” Aplasca added.

(After we fired the warning shot, we expected them to lower [their weapons]. But instead, they retaliated by shooting at us, so we stepped back a bit, and from there, the exchange of gunfire became continuous.)

Gunshots rang out at the Senate amid an ongoing lockdown at the upper chamber, where Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa was under protective custody.

The tension at the Senate developed after the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order sought by Dela Rosa, who is facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.

But NBI director Melvin Matibag said that there were no agents deployed at the Senate following the gunshots heard at the chamber’s premises on Wednesday evening. He noted that NBI officials are in a three-day fellowship event in a hotel.

Meanwhile, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said that there’s no way that the tensions were staged.

Likewise, Aplasca echoed that the Wednesday incident is impossible to stage.

“Mahirap yatang sabihin na staged itong nangyari dito…Wala naman kaming kontrol sa mga NBI agents. Kung hindi sila dumating dito, wala pong mangyayaring barilan, putukan, kung wala sila sa premises ng Senate,” he said.

(It would be difficult to say that what happened here was staged… We have no control over the NBI agents. If they hadn't arrived here, no shooting or gunfire would have occurred; [it wouldn't have happened] if they weren't on the Senate premises.)

Senator Bam Aquino has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry on the tensions at the Senate building. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA News