All evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate
In the corridors where law and power share walls, a brief exchange of gunfire on May 13 between Senate security and NBI agents has become something larger than its few seconds of violence — a contest over narrative, authority, and institutional trust. Interior Secretary Remulla, speaking from Malacañang, insists the evidence shows no attack was ever intended, framing the incident as a security sweep misread as a threat. Yet competing timelines, unaccounted firearms, and the silence of a president still forming his position remind us that in governance, the story of what happened is often as consequential as what happened itself.
- A brief gunfight inside the Senate complex — NBI agents on one side of a doorway, Senate security on the other — has left no casualties but a deep institutional wound.
- Interior Secretary Remulla publicly challenged the acting Senate sergeant-at-arms, questioning why armed personnel were assembled before cameras rather than the floor being cleared and secured.
- The NBI's presence in the adjacent GSIS building was framed as a routine security sweep after Senator Dela Rosa's dramatic arrest announcement put the city on edge — not a hostile incursion.
- Key evidence remains incomplete: the acting sergeant-at-arms has not surrendered his firearm, and the two competing timelines from the executive branch and Senate security contradict each other at critical points.
- President Marcos has acknowledged awareness of the situation but issued no instructions, leaving DOJ prosecutors to navigate the political and legal crossfire without executive direction.
On the afternoon of May 13, gunshots rang through the second floor of the Senate building in Manila. The exchange was brief — NBI agents on one side of a connecting doorway, Senate security on the other — and no one died. But the incident has since split into two irreconcilable versions of events, and the government's top internal security official has stepped forward to contest the one gaining traction in the Senate.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla used a Malacañang press briefing on May 19 to state plainly that all evidence shows no attack on the Senate occurred. The 29 NBI agents stationed in the adjacent GSIS building, he explained, were there at the request of GSIS President Wick Veloso, who sought to secure the building's entry points and protect its valuable art collection after Senator Dela Rosa's surprise May 12 appearance — in which he announced his impending arrest and called for a people power movement — had put the capital on edge. The agents arrived in civilian clothes, conducting a sweep of vulnerabilities, not a tactical operation.
Remulla reserved pointed scrutiny for acting Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, a Philippine Military Academy classmate of Dela Rosa. Why, Remulla asked, did Aplasca assemble armed Marines, police, and OSAA staff in front of the media rather than quietly clearing the floor? CCTV reconstruction shows that when Aplasca's team approached the connecting passageway, only one NBI agent was visible. Aplasca ordered his personnel into a combat stance, advanced, and after the agent raised — though did not aim — his weapon, fired three shots. The NBI agent returned fire. Most rounds came from the Senate side.
The investigation now sits with a DOJ prosecutor panel, which also awaits the Philippine National Police report. Aplasca has not surrendered his firearm, unlike two OSAA personnel and the NBI agent who have complied. President Marcos, aware of the situation, has issued no instructions. Acting Justice Secretary Vida has urged patience. What the prosecutors conclude — and whether the president eventually speaks — will determine whether this becomes a legal reckoning or a political stalemate.
On the afternoon of May 13, gunshots echoed through the second floor of the Senate building in Manila. The exchange lasted only moments—NBI agents on one side of a doorway, Senate security personnel on the other. No one was killed. But the incident has fractured into two competing narratives, and as police investigations move toward the Department of Justice, the government's top official for internal security is pushing back hard against one version of events.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla took the microphone at a Malacañang press conference late on May 19 to make his position unmistakable: "All evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate." He repeated it for emphasis. What he meant was that the NBI agents—29 of them stationed in the adjacent GSIS building—were not there to assault the Senate. They were there to protect property and secure entry points after Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa had made a surprise appearance in the chamber on May 12, announced he would be arrested, and called for a people power movement. The city was on edge. The GSIS building, which shares walls and doorways with the Senate complex, housed billions of pesos in artwork. GSIS President Wick Veloso asked the NBI to fortify security. They came in civilian clothes, not tactical gear, moving through floors to identify vulnerabilities. This is what Remulla wanted on the record.
But Remulla also spent considerable time questioning the actions of Mao Aplasca, the retired police general serving as acting Senate sergeant-at-arms. Why did Aplasca gather armed personnel—OSAA staff, Marines, police—in front of the media? Why didn't he clear the entire floor if he believed a confrontation was possible? Why, after the shooting stopped and his people were retreating, did he not immediately secure the premises but instead go straight to the press? Aplasca is a Philippine Military Academy classmate of Dela Rosa, a detail that colors the political reading of his decisions. Some senators, including newly elected Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Imee Marcos, have insisted the NBI presence constituted an attack. Remulla's presentation suggested something closer to a misunderstanding that escalated into gunfire.
The sequence of events, as reconstructed from CCTV footage and police investigation, went like this: By May 13, GSIS was on high alert. Security officials had identified nine weak points where someone could move from the Senate side to the GSIS side. The NBI agents were checking these areas when Aplasca mobilized his force. According to Remulla, only one NBI agent was clearly visible on the connecting passageway when Aplasca's personnel approached. The Senate security chief ordered his people into a combat stance—"lock and load," in Remulla's words—and advanced toward the doorway. When an OSAA member named Jemel Ledesma peered through a window, Aplasca asked the NBI agent to identify himself. The agent raised his weapon, not pointing it at the Senate side but raising it nonetheless. Aplasca interpreted this as a threat and fired three shots. The NBI agent, believing he was under attack, returned fire with cover shots. Most of the gunfire came from inside the Senate—four firearms discharged multiple rounds. The NBI agent on the GSIS side fired up to three shots.
Remulla emphasized that the NBI agents were not in formation, not in tactical gear, not preparing to breach the Senate. They were conducting a security sweep of an adjacent building. He questioned whether Aplasca's decision to arm and advance his personnel, in full view of the media, was the appropriate response to what he saw on CCTV. He also noted that not all weapons have been accounted for. Aplasca has not turned over his firearm to investigators. Two OSAA personnel and the NBI agent have done so.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has taken no public position. When asked if the president had issued instructions to his cabinet on how to proceed, Remulla said simply: "He is in knowledge of these already but he has no instructions yet." The NBI's report has been handed to a panel of prosecutors at the Department of Justice. The Philippine National Police report will follow. Acting Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida cautioned against drawing conclusions before the panel completes its review. The competing timelines—one from the executive branch, one from the Senate—contradict each other at several points. What happens next depends on what the DOJ prosecutors decide to do with the evidence, and whether the president will eventually weigh in.
Citas Notables
For the record, all evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate. I would like to repeat, all evidence points that there was no attack on the Senate.— Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla
He is in knowledge of these already but he has no instructions yet.— Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, on President Marcos's position
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why were NBI agents in the GSIS building at all? It seems like an unusual place for them to be.
The GSIS president was worried. Senator Dela Rosa had called for a people power movement, and the building next to the Senate—technically connected to it—housed billions in artwork. He asked the NBI to secure entry points. It was a precaution, not a provocation.
But the Senate security chief, Aplasca, says he wasn't told about this. Doesn't that seem like a coordination failure?
That's the dispute. Remulla says GSIS maintenance personnel informed their Senate counterparts. Aplasca says no prior coordination happened. One of them is not being truthful, or both are operating from different understandings of what "coordination" means.
When the shooting started, who fired first?
Aplasca fired first—he admits it. He says it was a warning shot. He saw an NBI agent raise his weapon and interpreted it as a threat. The agent returned fire in what he believed was self-defense. But the question is whether that first shot was justified, and whether Aplasca should have cleared the floor before advancing.
What does Remulla think?
He thinks Aplasca made poor decisions. He mobilized armed personnel in front of the media, allowed them to advance without clearing civilians, and fired on someone who was not pointing a weapon at him. Remulla is essentially saying the Senate security chief escalated a routine security check into a gunfight.
And the president? What does Marcos think?
No one knows yet. He's been briefed but has given no instructions. The case is now with prosecutors at the Department of Justice. The president is waiting.