MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of a long presentation that went into detail on the key movements, personalities, and actions that led up to a brief exchange of gunfire between Senate security personnel and the National Bureau of Investigation, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla made clear right away what his point was going to be.
“For the record, all evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate. I would like to repeat, all evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate,” said Remulla in a press conference late Tuesday, May 19, hosted by Malacañang.
For good measure, Remulla also cast doubt on the actions of Mao Aplasca, the retired police general who is acting Senate sergeant-at-arms – why he apparently made it a point to gather the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) personnel, as well as Marines and police assigned to the Senate, in front of the media, and why Aplasca did not make it a point to clear the entire floor if an encounter was a possibility.
Remulla questioned Aplasca’s actions after the brief exchange of fire, when Senate security forces were already retreating.
“If you want to take note of the video, upon retreat there was no order to secure the Senate ‘cause normally in a heat of the moment like that, your first order would be secure the premises. However, he went straight out and then he went straight to the press and then he reported,” said Remulla, who himself had gone to the Senate after the gunshots on the second floor of the Senate building.
