Rowegie Abanto

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla address the media hours after consecutive gunshots were heard inside the Philippine Senate building on May 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla address the media hours after consecutive gunshots were heard inside the Philippine Senate building on May 13, 2026.  Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

SEN BATO DELA ROSA- ARREST- GUNSHOTS

Katrina Domingo

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177873810063520260513-senate-gunshots-fired-cayetano-remulla-MT.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla address the media hours after consecutive gunshots were heard inside the Philippine Senate building on May 13, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATED) </strong>— Following chaos due to gunfire inside the Senate on Wednesday night, the internet is rife with speculations that the disturbance was orchestrated to let International Criminal Court suspect Sen. Ronald dela Rosa leave the chamber&#x27;s premises. </p><p>Palace Press Officer Claire Castro brought this up at a news conference in Malacañang on Thursday with top law enforcement officials, who sought to clarify details of the shocking scenes in the chamber where gunshots had been heard on live television.</p><p>Castro asked Melvin Matibag, director of the National Bureau of Investigation, if there were views that the commotion may have been &quot;staged&quot; to let Dela Rosa slip out of the Senate.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ll be very honest, that&#x27;s the sentiment of our NBI agents,&quot; replied Matibag, who stressed that an investigation is still underway to determine the truth behind the mayhem.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/diversion-attempt-among-angles-pnp-is-probing-in-senate-shooting-1247">Diversion attempt among angles PNP is probing in Senate shooting</a></div><p>Agents of the NBI arrived Wednesday at the Government Service Insurance System building in Pasay City — the Senate leases part of the compound — after GSIS president Wick Veloso asked the investigating agency to secure their premises, said Matibag.</p><p>He stressed that the NBI was not inside the Senate when the chaos erupted.</p><p>Castro claimed that <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/afp-chief-brawner-osaa-fired-shots-during-senate-incident-not-marines-1023">Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca, a former police general, was the first to fire</a> a warning shot when an NBI agent confirmed their presence in the GSIS wing.</p><p>She also stressed that there was &quot;no assault&quot; on the Senate by NBI agents and that there was no operation to arrest Dela Rosa, whose legal team <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/13/sc-directs-government-to-comment-on-bato-s-plea-for-vs-icc-warrant-1824">did not secure an immediate restraining order </a>from the Supreme Court to prevent his arrest.</p><p>&quot;Ang bagong Pilipino ay para sa katotohanan at hindi para sa pagko-cover up,&quot; Castro said as the press conference concluded.</p><p>(A renewed Filipino is for the truth and not for creating a coverup.)</p><p>No one was injured in the five-hour incident that catapulted the Philippines into the international spotlight.</p><p>The NBI personnel were not only securing the GSIS building amid the tension but were also determining the location of Dela Rosa, who had not been seen in public for six months, Matibag noted.</p><p>He added that the <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/alleged-gunman-in-senate-shooting-incident-identified-arrested-police-0959">alleged gunman arrested</a> following the incident was not their personnel but rather a &quot;volunteer.&quot;</p><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denied that the government had a hand in the chaos that gripped the Senate on Wednesday night, when Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano also claimed that the institution was &quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/13/cayetano-says-senate-allegedly-under-attack-tells-personnel-to-follow-protocols-2056">under attack</a>.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/afp-chief-brawner-osaa-fired-shots-during-senate-incident-not-marines-1023">AFP chief Brawner: OSAA fired shots during Senate incident, not Marines</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/alleged-gunman-in-senate-shooting-incident-identified-arrested-police-0959">Alleged gunman in Senate shooting incident identified, arrested—police</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>CAYETANO DISMISSES CONSPIRACY THEORIES</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Cayetano on Thursday denied talk that only Senate security opened fire on Wednesday night, calling it &quot;fake news.&quot;</p><p>He stressed that shots came from both sides. </p><p>&quot;I mean, you have the videos, guys.&quot;</p><p>He said there have been &quot;conspiracy theories from both sides&quot; since Wednesday night.</p><p>He added he has talked to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and &quot;informed him of the inconsistencies&quot; in the NBI&#x27;s statements.</p><p>He said he agrees with Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla&#x27;s suggestion for an independent joint investigation into the incident.</p><p>&quot;Bakit joint? Kasi jurisdiction &#x27;to ng [Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms] at ng Senate,&quot; Cayetano, who is in his first week as Senate president, said.</p><p>(Why a joint investigation? Because this is the jurisdiction of OSAA and the Senate)</p><p>He added that he knew as early as last night of talk that the incident was staged, adding &quot;the accusations are all over.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>MATIBAG: SENATE HAS DUTY TO SURRENDER DELA ROSA</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>An unnamed senator earlier in the day told the media that Dela Rosa <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/bato-has-left-senate-premises-1107">had already left the Senate premises before dawn</a> on Thursday, and Matibag and Philippine National Police chief Jose Nartatez Jr. could not immediately confirm the development in the briefing.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/bato-has-left-senate-premises-1107">Amid talk he left the Senate, Bato’s lawyers mum on where he is</a></div><p>But Matibag, also a lawyer, pointed out that since Dela Rosa has been in the protective custody of the Senate, the chamber has the &quot;responsibility&quot; to surrender the senator when his presence is requested.</p><p>The NBI suspended operations to arrest Dela Rosa after the Senate placed him in protective custody and out of respect for the senator&#x27;s petition before the Supreme Court, he said.</p><p>Dela Rosa disappeared last November following reports of an ICC warrant against him.</p><p>He emerged at the Senate on Monday shortly before his allies installed Cayetano as the new Senate leader and ahead of Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s impeachment by the House.</p><p>NBI officials had tried to arrest Dela Rosa as soon as he arrived in the Senate&#x27;s parking area Monday, but the former police chief outran the agents and sought refuge in the plenary hall, where his allies pushed to keep him under the Senate&#x27;s protection.</p><p>On Wednesday, chaos ensued inside the Senate building in Pasay City as gunshots were fired after Dela Rosa announced on social media that he would soon be arrested.</p><p>Dela Rosa is among the named co-perpetrators in former President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s crimes against humanity case before the ICC.</p><p>Dela Rosa served as the chief implementor of the former administration&#x27;s bloody anti-drug campaign that saw thousands of suspected drug users and dealers killed in police operations. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1qgH0tHTYCw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qPYUd7zNOpk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nqxlzbgzCSQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FyE4_6J-LKo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><strong></strong><em><strong></strong></em><br/></div>

<p>"I'll be very honest, that's the sentiment of our NBI agents," said Matibag, who nevertheless noted that investigation is still underway to determine the truth behind the mayhem.</p>

"I'll be very honest, that's the sentiment of our NBI agents," said Matibag, who nevertheless noted that investigation is still underway to determine the truth behind the mayhem.

Senate chaos 'staged'?: 'That's the sentiment of our NBI agents,' Matibag says

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Senate chaos 'staged'?: 'That's the sentiment of our NBI agents,' Matibag says

Rowegie Abanto,

Katrina Domingo,

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 14, 2026 02:47 PM PHT

|

Updated May 14, 2026 03:05 PM PHT

Read More:

Ferdinand Marcos Jr

Senate

Senate Chaos

Ronald dela Rosa

Bato dela Rosa

ICC

Warrant of Arrest

NBI

PNP

Melvin Matibag

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