Hontiveros, Erwin Tulfo back 'unified' Senate shooting probe

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday backed proposals to convene the Senate as a Committee of the Whole to investigate last week’s shooting incident at the chamber.

Hontiveros made the remark after Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III pushed for a unified Senate inquiry into the incident following emotional exchanges among senators.

“Si dating Senate President at ngayon Minority Leader Tito Sotto ang nangunguna sa ganyang panukala na mag-convene kami bilang Committee of the Whole at sinusuportahan ko po ’yon,” Hontiveros said in an interview on Balitanghali.

(It was former Senate President and now Minority Leader Tito Sotto who led the proposal to convene as a Committee of the Whole, and I support it.)

TIMELINE: What happened before, during, after Senate shooting incident

During the plenary session, Sotto proposed referring the privilege speeches of Hontiveros and Senators Erwin Tulfo and Raffy Tulfo to the Committee of the Whole, paving the way for a chamber-wide investigation into the May 13 incident.

“Hindi po problema na meron nang naunang mga imbestigasyon ng ating mga investigative and law enforcement bodies,” Hontiveros said.

(It is not a problem that investigative and law enforcement bodies have already launched their own probes.)

“Lahat po ay puwedeng mag-parallel at mag-complement ng mga imbestigasyon dahil pagbabasehan lang naman ’yung pare-parehong mga ebidensya,” she added.

(All of the investigations can proceed in parallel and complement each other since they will rely on the same pieces of evidence.)

In a separate interview, Erwin Tulfo also expressed support for Sotto’s proposal, saying an independent Senate probe could address concerns over institutional security and clarify questions surrounding the shooting incident.

“Napansin ko lang kahapon, parang kalimutan na lang natin. Hindi naman po puwede ’yon. May accountability po tayo,” Tulfo said.

(I noticed yesterday that it seemed like we were just going to forget about it. That should not happen. We have accountability.)

“Kailangan talagang maimbestigahan kung ano ba talaga — inatake ba tayo?” he added.

(We really need to investigate what truly happened — were we really attacked?)

Overhaul

Tulfo also called for an overhaul of security protocols under the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms following the incident.

“Ayaw ko pong sabihin na blessing in disguise. What if may lumusob talaga sa atin? Mukhang hindi po tayo ready,” he said.

(I do not want to call it a blessing in disguise. But what if armed men really stormed the Senate? It looked like we were not ready.)

“Ito po ay awakening sa security ng Senado na may problema ang security po ng Senate,” he added.

(This is a wake-up call that there are problems with Senate security.)

On May 13, live television footage captured the sound of gunshots and people fleeing inside the Senate building, where Senator Ronald dela Rosa had sought protective custody amid reports of a possible arrest. Hours after the incident, dela Rosa left the Senate premises. —Sundy Locus/ VAL, GMA News