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A Senate security installs a barrier near the site where gun shots were fired the night before inside the Senate building in Manila on May 14, 2026.
AFP / Ted Aljibe
MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Boying Remulla alleged the Senate is resisting efforts to investigate the May 13 gunfire incident, as his office attempted to serve subpoenas and secure key evidence, including CCTV footage from inside the chamber complex.
The Ombudsman earlier directed Senate authorities to submit CCTV footage of the Wednesday night shooting as investigators determine possible security and procedural lapses.
"We're encountering problems. Our process server is again not being accommodated at the Senate even though there was prior notice," Remulla said in mixed Filipino and English on a dzRH interview on Saturday, May 16.
Remulla said he considered the subpoena served even if Senate personnel refused to formally receive it.
"I don't understand them because, for me, that is already considered served even if they refused to receive it," he said.
Senate officials have yet to confirm or dispute Remulla's sattement as of press time.
The shooting erupted in the evening at the Senate complex after Sen. Bato Dela Rosa claimed he was about to be arrested. He had been staying in the premises under Senate protection while facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity. More than a dozen shots were fired as "warning" at the adjacent GSIS building by the chamber's security, followed by response gunfire by National Bureau of Investigation agents while senators and journalists were inside the Senate's part of the complex.
The confrontation had no casualties, but Dela Rosa later fled before dawn following the overnight lockdown and gunfire scare.
'Nobody is above the law'
Remulla stressed that the Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca, who admitted to firing the first shot, remains subject to law enforcement processes despite holding a security position at the Senate.
"He's the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Senate's security guard. In the end, his job is to secure the Senate and ensure that rules are followed," Remulla said.
"Nobody is above the law, even if you work in the Senate," he added.
Remulla warned that allowing government institutions to disregard law enforcement agencies would weaken the rule of law.
"If we allow them to simply disregard the NBI and the police like that, that cannot be allowed. What kind of country would we be then?" he said.
