Senate receives Ombudsman suspension order vs. Aplasca, CCTV subpoena

The Senate on Monday received the Office of the Ombudsman’s order placing acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca under preventive suspension, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said Monday.

It also supposedly received the subpoena seeking closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage related to the May 13 shooting incident at the Senate complex.

“I just got the report that they have received both the order for preventive suspension and the subpoena on the CCTV footage,” Clavano told reporters.

The confirmation came after two representatives from the Office of the Ombudsman were seen at the Senate premises earlier in the day.

According to a post on X by GMA News reporter Ian Cruz, the representatives earlier declined to confirm or deny whether they had arrived to serve a subpoena on Aplasca or to obtain CCTV footage linked to the incident.

The development followed remarks over the weekend by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, who said the Senate had refused to receive subpoenas tied to the investigation.

Remulla earlier said the subpoenas covered CCTV footage of the May 13 incident and documents related to Aplasca, who was placed under preventive suspension for six months without pay pending an Ombudsman investigation.

The Ombudsman is probing the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident at the Senate premises, in which Aplasca earlier admitted firing the first warning shot during a confrontation involving law enforcement personnel.

“Siya po ang unang nagpaputok. Papaputukan mo (He fired the first shot. You’re going to fire at) law enforcement? We do not tolerate that," Remulla said in an earlier press conference.

Remulla said that the Senate sergeant-at-arms should not be in a position to influence matters being investigated in connection with the shooting incident.

"He can appeal, but there cannot be someone who may influence matters we still need to uncover at the Senate. That is why there is preventive suspension — to prevent undue influence on the investigation," he said.

Remulla also questioned Aplasca’s actions during the incident, saying the Senate sergeant-at-arms should have maintained peace and order instead of allegedly firing the first shot and causing a dangerous commotion.

"They should have kept the peace. Why fire first? You are the Sergeant-at-Arms, yet you started it? You caused a commotion by discharging a firearm. It was dangerous and could have hit somebody," he said.

"Good thing no one was hurt. There was no need to fire a gun there. The report that reached me also said he was the first to wear a bulletproof vest, suggesting apparent intent," Remulla added.—With reports from Llanesca T. Panti/MCG, GMA News