Recently suspended Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Ma.O Aplasca’s actions during a shooting incident at the Senate “saved lives,” Sen. Robin Padilla remarked on Tuesday.
In a social media post, Padilla asserted that Aplasca’s warning shot to the National Bureau of Investigation agents and vice versa “calmed the situation” at the Senate.
“The only truth I know is that this person saved the lives of those inside and outside the Senate,” Padilla said in Filipino.
He continued: “His warning shot and the NBI’s warning shot helped calm the situation and proved that they were both friendly forces, but their superiors fell short in proper coordination and communication.”
Padilla also commended that both Aplasca and the NBI did not “ride the combat high,” saying this is what led to the peaceful end of the gunfire.
Prior to Padilla’s statement, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla criticized the actions taken by Aplasca prior to firing the warning shot.
Remulla pointed out that Aplasca failed to secure the area before and after the incident, thereby risking the lives of those within the Senate premises when shots were fired.