National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag on Tuesday defended the agency’s driver-volunteer who was arrested in connection with last week’s shooting incident at the Senate, saying he was not issued a firearm despite testing positive for gunpowder residue.
Matibag said videos circulating online showed Mel Oragon on the fifth floor of the GSIS building when the shooting incident happened at the adjacent Senate building.
He added that Oragon was later brought to the Senate grounds during the arrest, where the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) had been firing gunshots.
“Nung nag-clearing na, bumalik siya dahil may naiwan na bag ang kasama niya. Kukuhanin niya dapat ang bag pero hindi pa siya nakarating doon sa bag, hinabol na siya at inaresto na sya at dinala siya sa Senate, doon siya pinadapa sa floor sa Senate (When the clearing operation started, he went back because his companion had left a bag behind. He was supposed to retrieve the bag, but before he could reach it, he was already chased, arrested, and brought to the Senate, where he was made to lie face down on the floor),” Matibag said in an interview at Camp Crame.
He said this would explain why Oragon tested positive for gunpowder residue.
“Base sa nakita ko, idinapa siya kung saan nandoon ang OSAA at nagpaputok ng nagpaputok ng baril. Maraming gunpowders doon sa sahig (Based on what I saw, he was made to lie face down at the area where the OSAA was and where gunshots were fired. There was gunpowder all over the floor there),” he said.
The shooting incident at the Senate took place on the same night Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), disappeared from the chamber’s premises, effectively evading possible arrest.
Dela Rosa, who was under Senate custody, is wanted by the ICC as a “co-perpetrator” in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, which killed thousands of suspects.
The senator’s camp has filed several urgent motions before the Supreme Court, including one seeking to block the global tribunal’s arrest warrant.
Matibag said the NBI is awaiting the decision of the high court.
“There is an ongoing case at the Supreme Court. And, alam niyo naman, from the point of view of the lawyers, including the DOJ (Department of Justice), we always somehow listen to the Supreme Court (There is an ongoing case at the Supreme Court. And, you know, from the point of view of the lawyers, including the DOJ, we always somehow listen to the Supreme Court). But one thing is clear, the warrant is valid,” he said.
Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño confirmed in a text message to reporters that several OSAA personnel appeared before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at Camp Crame on Tuesday morning in connection with the Senate shooting probe.
Tuaño said suspended OSAA acting chief Mao Aplasca was also present, as confirmed by CIDG – National Capital Region chief Col. John Guiagui.
The PNP and CIDG have yet to provide further details on the OSAA personnel’s appearance. (PNA)