The Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) admitted on Saturday, May 16, that it does have closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the May 13 shooting incident on the second floor of the Senate building, directly contradicting earlier statements made by its chief in a radio interview.
In a statement, Acting Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca strongly denied “false and misleading” reports and social media posts claiming that no video logs of the encounter between Senate security personnel and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) operatives existed.
”For the record, the CCTV system covering the concerned areas of the Senate premises was fully operational during the incident,” Aplasca said.
According to Aplasca, the OSAA received a formal request on May 14 from PCol John Guiaguif of the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Regional Field Unit, National Capital Region (PNP CIDG RFU NCR). In full cooperation with the investigation, the OSAA Integrated Electronics and Technical Section voluntarily handed over the footage on the same day.
Authorized PNP personnel participated in the technical extraction of data from DVR 2 CCTV Cam 8 and DVR 8 CCTV Cams 7 and 8.
”Corresponding certifications and acknowledgment receipts were likewise executed and signed by the receiving PNP personnel confirming their receipt of the CCTV copies… The certifications further affirmed that the CCTV footage provided was authentic, original, unaltered, and directly obtained from the official Senate CCTV system,” Aplasca added.
Despite the firm clarification, the confusion stems from Aplasca’s own remarks during a recent radio interview. When asked twice if he could produce footage tracking the exact positioning and movements of the OSAA staff and the Marines involved, Aplasca explicitly stated that none could be found.
“So yesterday, pinareview ko yung mga CCTV. So wala po kaming mahanap doon sa area ng position po ng mga OSAA at Marines,” Aplasca said during the broadcast.
When pressed a second time on the airwaves, he reiterated:
“Sabi ko nga, wala kaming mahanap na kuha ng mga galaw ng mga OSAA.”
The latest official statement omitted details on whether the yielded footage actually captured the specific movements of the OSAA personnel and the Marines, which Aplasca previously claimed were missing from the frames.
The developments come amid major leadership shakeups within Senate security. On Friday, May 15, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla placed Aplasca under a six-month preventive suspension without pay, effective immediately.
The Office of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano has yet to announce a replacement for the suspended security chief.