Marcos: ‘We’ll get to the bottom of this; it was not government-led’
MANILA, Philippines — Following a tense incident at the Senate in which several gunshots were heard, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday the government had no involvement and assured the public that the Senate and the Philippine National Police (PNP) would conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
In a video statement, Marcos said there was no instruction for anyone to arrest Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who has a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court.
Following the Supreme Court’s deferment of Dela Rosa’s urgent motion seeking to stop his arrest, Marcos said he ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to leave the Senate building, where Dela Rosa is currently in custody.
“Ang NBI ay sinabihan ko nung lumabas yung resolution nu’ng Supreme Court mga 4 yun kaninang hapon; sinabi ko ‘umalis na kayo diyan’ at nag-comply naman sila. Kaya nung kausap ko si Director [Melvin] Matibag sabi niya walang NBI dito [Senate]. Nandito lahat kami sa opisina,” said the President.
(I told the NBI when the Supreme Court resolution came out, around 4 this afternoon; I told them to leave that area, and they complied. So when I spoke with Director Matibag, he said there was no NBI here [at the Senate]. We are all here in the office.)
Marcos noted that apart from NBI personnel who left the Senate upon his instruction, no outside military or NBI units entered the premises.
“Walang pumasok na tigalabas na sundalo, na militar, na NBI sa Senado. Hindi po natin alam kung sino yung sumubok na pumasok at saka dahil doon ay nagkaputukan,” he said.
(No outside soldiers, military personnel, or NBI entered the Senate. We don’t know who those people were who tried to enter, and because of that, there was a shootout.)
He explained that there are only two types of uniformed personnel originally stationed inside the Senate: officers of the PNP and members of the Marines.
“‘Yung PNP pulis na naka-duty sa Senado, andoon sila para bantayan ng Senado, para mag-crowd control, para mag-secure ang Senado,” he said.
(The PNP police officers assigned to duty at the Senate, they are there to guard the Senate, to do crowd control, and to secure the Senate.)
The Marine detachment, meanwhile, is also tasked with securing the Senate and performing honor guard duties.
He also added that civilian personnel from the Senate Sergeant at Arms are present, alongside police and Marines.
Calm down, joint investigation underway
Marcos called on the public to calm down as he and Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano have agreed to pinpoint the cause of the incident.
“Nais kong mapaalam na sa lahat ng ating mga kababayan itong pangyayari na ito ay tayo’y maging kalma lang po. Nakausap ko na si Senate President Alan Cayatano at nag-agree kami. We agree that the thing to do now is to tell our people all to calm down and we will get to the bottom of this,” Marcos said.
(I want to inform all our fellow citizens that we should remain calm about this incident. I have already spoken with Senate President Alan Cayetano, and we agreed. We agree that the thing to do now is to tell our people to calm down, and we will get to the bottom of this.)
“Aalamin natin kung sino ang gumawa nitong gulo na ito. Ito ba ay talagang nagka nagkaengkwentro lang o ito ba ay may kasama sa mga destab o nagsusimula ng gulo?” he added.
(We will find out who caused this disturbance. Was this really just an encounter, or was it connected to destabilization efforts or people trying to start trouble?)
He said the Senate and the PNP would conduct a joint investigation, stressing that the government had nothing to do with the incident.
“Masasabi ko lang at para hindi po magalala ang ating ang taong bayan hindi po gobyerno ang gumawa nito,” the President said.
(All I can say, and to prevent our people from worrying, is that this was not done by the government.)
Marcos further said, “Kalma lang po. Asahan ninyo ang gobyerno ninyo hindi gagawin ito.”
(Please remain calm. You can trust that your government would not do this.) /cb
