Lacson: Better NBI-OSAA coordination could’ve averted Senate shooting

Sen. Panfilo Lacson FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday said that the shooting incident that occurred in the Senate could have been avoided if the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Office of the Sergeant-of-Arms (OSAA) maintained close coordination with each other. Citing with his conversation with NBI director Melvin Matibag, Lacson said that the NBI agents were at the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) side to prepare for any untoward incidents due to protests outside the Senate amid the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte and placement of Senator Ronald dela Rosa under protective custody. READ: GSIS sought NBI’s help to secure compound before Senate shootout Article continues after this advertisement Matibag earlier said that GSIS president and general manager Wick Veloso sought his help to deploy personnel at the GSIS premises where the Senate is located, as it would help “in maintaining peace, order, and security in the area.” “As far as the operational aspect of what happened is concerned, if there had been coordination or communication between the two sides, the shooting could have been avoided,” Lacson said in an interview with True FM. In a Palace press briefing on Thursday, Matibag said they had been in verbal communication with the GSIS in connection with the request before receiving the formal request around 5 p.m. on Wednesday while the agents arrived at the premises around 6 p.m. In the same press briefing, Palace press officer Claire Castro said that Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Ma. O Aplasca first fired the warning shot at an NBI agent in the vicinity. This was then admitted by Aplasca in a separate interview, saying that he fired his gun upwards. READ: Senate shooting: Aplasca admits firing first shot at NBI agents Article continues after this advertisement Aplasca also said that no NBI personnel coordinated with them from the morning until night of the shooting. He noted that it was unusual for the NBI to not coordinate with the Senate when its personnel were in the vicinity. Lacson also said that the agents were not instructed to arrest dela Rosa, who is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in connection with his role in the drug war campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte. He added that the agents were told to monitor dela Rosa if he leaves the Senate. Article continues after this advertisement “In case dela Rosa leaves the Senate, the agents were instructed not to arrest but simply monitor, follow him and ask for further guidance when he’s already outside the Senate premises,” Lacson added. Lacson added said that the closed-circuit television footage of the incident must be retrieved. In a separate press conference on Friday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said he issued a subpoena for the Senate to provide him copies of the footage, which will be used in their investigation. Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday confirmed that dela Rosa left the Senate premises at 2:30 a.m. of that day. While the senator’s whereabouts have not been identified, Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said they have not recorded any outbound travel activity from dela Rosa. After six months of being absent from the Senate following Remulla’s pronouncement that there was already an arrest warrant for him in November 2025, dela Rosa appeared in the Senate ahead of the change in their leadership. On the same day, he was placed under Senate custody amid his possible arrest. It was also on Monday when the International Criminal Court made public the arrest warrant against him as the 16-page warrant was originally issued confidentially and under seal on November 6, 2025 by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. The chamber said it found reasonable grounds to believe that dela Rosa was individually responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder under article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute, which was committed between July 3, 2016 and the end of April 2018, during which no less than 32 persons were killed. /jpv