MANILA — Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Saturday that he dismissed former acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Ranada Aplasca from government service following an investigation into the May 13 shooting incident inside the Senate.
Speaking on dzRH’s Executive Session program, Remulla said he ordered Aplasca’s dismissal on June 29 from his posts as head of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (Osaa) of the Senate and sergeant-at-arms of the Commission on Appointments.
Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman would release its decision but declined to discuss its contents.
“We will release the decision for people to see because it is difficult to explain,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether Aplasca, a retired police officer, would lose his pension following his dismissal.
The Ombudsman suspended Aplasca for six months after the shooting inside the Senate building in Pasay City, where gunfire erupted in a corridor leading to a passage connecting the Senate and the Government Service Insurance System building. No one was injured.
The incident occurred during a week marked by the return of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to the Senate after months in hiding.
Dela Rosa appeared at the Senate on May 11 while agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were waiting to serve an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa reached the Senate session hall before authorities could arrest him. The Senate later elected Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as Senate president, replacing Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Following then-Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Edgardo Rene Samonte’s resignation, the Senate appointed Aplasca, a Philippine Military Academy classmate of Dela Rosa, as acting head of the Osaa.
During the Senate session, Sen. Rodante Marcoleta moved to place Dela Rosa under the Senate’s protective custody.
On May 13, gunshots rang out inside the Senate complex. Hours later, Senate security footage showed Dela Rosa leaving the premises in a vehicle with Sen. Robinhood Padilla.
On May 20, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group recommended filing charges against Aplasca and two Osaa security personnel for allegedly firing their weapons without justification in violation of the Private Security Services Industry Act.
CIDG Director Maj. Gen. Robert Morico II said investigators found no unlawful aggression that justified the use of firearms.
According to a report submitted by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Aplasca confronted an NBI agent and fired a warning shot after seeing the agent raise a long firearm.
Morico said the NBI agent fired at least five shots while retreating and regrouping with other agents. He added that investigators recovered 44 spent shell casings, 39 of which came from three firearms assigned to the Osaa team, and described the response as “overkill.”
Aplasca disputed the findings and alleged that the CCTV footage presented by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police had been altered.
Speaking at an Iglesia ni Cristo rally on June 30, Padilla denied helping Dela Rosa evade arrest, citing Senate security footage showing them leaving the Senate openly.