EXPLAINER: The Senate and its Sergeant-At-Arms

Acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Police Major General Mao Aplasca has been placed under six-month preventive suspension by the Ombudsman over Wednesday's shooting incident at the Senate.

“Siya po ang unang nagpaputok. Papaputukan mo, law enforcement? We do not tolerate that,” Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

“That is why we need to investigate. Mahirap patawarin iyong ginawa nilang ‘yun. Di po ito katanggap-tanggap. Ano karapatan niyang gawin yun? Sino siya?” Remulla added.

Shooting incident

Live news footage captured the sound of gunshots and people running away from the gunshots inside the Senate building Wednesday evening, where Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa is under protective custody.

This occurred after the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed that it issued a warrant of arrest against him over his role in the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.

An initial investigation of the Department of the Interior Local Government showed 32 shots were fired. Of the figures, 27 were from the OSAA and five were from the NBI.

Aplasca has repeatedly denied the Senate security forces went over the line as he underscored that it was the NBI's lack of coordination that triggered the gunfire exchange.

"The fact is meron bumaril samin and we will interpret that as a threat to our security. May karapatan kami na protektahan ang sarili whether ilang bala ang pinutok namin," he told "BaliTanghali".

(The fact is someone fired at us and we will interpret that as a threat to our security. We have the right to protect ourselves.)

"Kami nung nagpaputok kami, alam ko, hindi namin intention na tamaan ang mga tao. Kung yun ang intention, marami ang mamamatay sa NBI," he said.

(When we opened fire, we had no intention to shoot the NBI agents. If that was the case, a lot of NBI agents would have died.)

Aplasca added: "Sinisigurado ko po sa inyo, with my experience, wala po akong nilabag na security protocol".

OSAA duties

According to the Congress website, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for the security and maintenance of order in the Senate in accordance to the orders of the Senate President or Secretary.

It also provides physical and logical security for the members of the Senate and their staff, offices of the Secretariat and all properties located within its premises.

"Ngayon dito sa aming mandate, kami ay binigyan ng authority, para magpatupad ng mga regulation, mga procedures, at binigyan kami ng equipment para mapatupad ang aming trabaho," Aplasca told dzBB Super Radyo.

(Under our mandate, we were authorized to implement procedures, and were provided with the equipment to fulfill our duties.)

"Kung ang tinatanong ay ang specific incident na nagkaroon ng putukan sa loob ng Senado, kasama po yun sa protocols na pinapatupad namin," he added.

(If we are being asked on the specific incident, that is part of our protocols.)

Dela Rosa sneaked out of the Senate building with Senator Robin Padilla amid his possible arrest early Thursday, just hours after the shooting incident. — BAP, GMA News