Ombudsman serves suspension vs Aplasca; gets CCTV footage of shooting

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday served both the six-month preventive suspension against acting Senate sergeant-at-arms (SAA) Ma. O Aplasca—who admittedly fired a warning shot in the Senate last week, and the subpoena of the incident’s CCTV footage.

“Ombudsman personnel were in Senate to attempt to serve the Order of Preventive Suspension of Acting SAA Aplasca as well as the Subpoena for the CCTV footage,” said Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano.

READ: Ombudsman orders Senate sgt-at-arms  suspended for six months

Clavano said they got confirmation that both documents were received by the Senate Secretariat.

At around 7:46 p.m, shots rang in a hallway on the second floor of the Senate building, causing panic and fear among dozens of upper chamber’s staff and journalists who scampered for safety. There were no reported gun injuries.

The shooting, now under investigation, was followed by the sudden exit of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa from the Senate premises in the early hours of Thursday after being under the chamber’s “protective custody” for three days.

Aplasca admitted that he fired the first shot that triggered an exchange of gunfire on Wednesday night, saying it was a warning shot against National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in the vicinity.

However, the NBI has no arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Dela Rosa when its agents were spotted near the Senate building on Wednesday, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s report to the Senate.

The ICC  on May 11 confirmed that an arrest warrant was issued against Dela Rosa over alleged crimes against humanity linked to the Duterte administration’s drug war.

The Supreme Court did not issue the temporary restraining order he sought against the ICC warrant.

The senator was chief of the Davao City police when former President Rodrigo Duterte was mayor from 2013 to 2016. 

He then became the Philippine National Police chief from 2016 to 2018 under the Duterte administration when the war on drugs took place.

Dela Rosa is also among those named by the ICC as an alleged co-perpetrator of Duterte, who was arrested on March 12, 2025 and has since been detained in the Netherlands. /jpv