The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Wednesday night said authorities still have no knowledge as to who was behind the shooting in the Senate but vows to get to the bottom of the incident. Tensions erupted in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon after heavily armed men barged into the Senate following Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca’s announcement that “we will arrest somebody.” While no specific names were mentioned, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was the only one in the building with a standing arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) initially attempted to be served by the National Bureau of Investigation last Monday. Shortly after, gunshots were heard and senators and Senate employees quickly rushed to safer grounds. In an interview together with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, Remulla laid down the chronology of events and clarified the reason for the PNP’s presence at the Senate. According to Remulla, armed men tried to enter through the second floor at around 7:46 pm but were stopped by the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms. The OSAA fired a warning shot but the armed men retreated at the back and started firing indiscriminately into the air. “We are in the process of determining who is behind this. We have instructed the GSIS and the Senate staff to secure all CCTVs,” he said. Senators were all secured and no injuries or casualties were recorded, Remulla said. He also clarified that the PNP was not there to arrest Dela Rosa, “In fact, we are here to protect him. Let that be clear. I mean, we need that to be clear to his family.” “I repeat, we do not know who is behind this, but we will find out. We have all the security footages. And I'm here with the Senate President to assure him that we are only doing this to secure them.”
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