Senator Robinhood Padilla’s office has confirmed that the person allegedly caught using marijuana inside the Senate premises is one of their employees.
In a message sent to ABS-CBN News, Atty. Rudolf Philip Jurado said the female employee in question has been given five days to submit her explanation.
“To be honest, yung may subject employee na parang mini-mention, we required her to submit a written explanation. Ikaw ba itong binabanggit dito? We gave her five days to explain kung siya yung mini-mention,” Jurado said.
He added that certain “clues” in media reports became the basis for asking the employee to respond.
“Pero di rin kami sure kung siya yung mini-mention doon so to give her due process, mag-explain ka. Tignan mo, baka ikaw yung mini-mention dyan. Anong masasabi mo? Despite the fact na yung OSAA wala namang sinabi na may insidenteng ganun nangyari,” he said.
The senator’s office has withheld the employee’s identity, citing its own planned internal investigation.
Meanwhile, the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) has formally launched its own probe into the matter.