Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Members of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) of the Philippine Senate ask members of the press to leave the Senate hall after consecutive gunshots were heard on the evening of May 13, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Dennis Gaviola

ABS-CBN News

<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/17847103406331778835697984senateOSAA.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Members of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) of the Philippine Senate ask members of the press to leave the Senate hall after consecutive gunshots were heard on the evening of May 13, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — Sen. Pia Cayetano on Wednesday asked National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag questions about the Senate gunfire incident in May.</p><p>Matibag was again at the Senate to testify on the ninth day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.</p><p>Cayetano mentioned interviews that Matibag gave on the May 13 gunfire incident, where personnel of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms exchanged warning shots with NBI agents, saying he was not on site and was at a hotel for a bureau event.</p><p>She also cited Matibag&#x27;s statement that NBI personnel were at the Government Service Insurance System building in Pasay to secure the premises as requested by GSIS president Jose Arnulfo &quot;Wick&quot; Veloso.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/19/timeline-police-explain-what-happened-at-the-senate-shooting-incident-1728">Police, NBI explain what happened at Senate shooting incident</a></div><p>Cayetano then had staff show a screenshot of the chamber&#x27;s website, which lists the Senate&#x27;s address as &quot;GSIS Building, J.W. Diokno Boulevard, Pasay City.&quot; </p><p>The Senate leases part of the GSIS Building. The Senate and GSIS sides are separated by a gate.</p><p>&quot;Nag-iisa lang naman po ang address namin... yung lugar kung saan nakita yung tao mo, likod lang po yun ng opisina ni Sen.Loren [Legarda],&quot; she also said.</p><p>(We have the same address... the area where your agent was seen is just behind Sen. Loren&#x27;s office.)</p><p>Cayetano, one of the few lawyers among the members of the Senate, said she brought that up because the Rules of Court hold that witnesses can be evaluated according to &quot;their intelligence and also their personal credibility.&quot;</p><p>According to the same rules, parties — the defense and prosecution — can impeach, or discredit, an adverse witness &quot;by evidence that his general reputation for truth, honesty, or integrity is bad.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/20/nbi-agent-receives-shield-of-bravery-for-actions-in-gsis-shooting-incident-1832">NBI agent receives Shield of Bravery for actions in GSIS shooting incident</a></div><p>The senator also disputed a claim by Matibag that NBI agents did not hurt anyone when they tried to arrest Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; Dela Rosa on May 11, when he appeared at the Senate after months of not attending sessions.</p><p>Dela Rosa is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over the &quot;war on drugs&quot;, although the ICC had yet to confirm the existence of that warrant on May 11.</p><p>&quot;We have a video… Alam po ng lahat ng kasamahan natin na yung OSAA, &#x27;yung ating personnel ay binugbog, may video po tayo niyan,&quot; she said.</p><p>(We have a video... all our colleagues know that an OSAA personnel was beaten up. We have video of that.)</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/senate-osaa-says-presence-of-nbi-agents-in-senate-triggered-gunfire-2128">Senate OSAA says presence of NBI agents triggered gunfire<br/></a></div><p>Noting her time to speak was up, Cayetano said she would end there but added she could show the video if her colleagues were inclined to see it.</p><p>During a press briefing, Impeachment Court Spokesperson Atty. Reginald Tongol was asked about Senator-Judge Pia Cayetano&#x27;s statements and their relevance to the proceedings.</p><p>Tongol simply noted that he had no idea as to the formulation of Cayetano&#x27;s question.</p><p>&quot;I can only comment po doon sa official actions ng impeachment court, yung manifestations po ng separate senator judges, yung motive po nila, I cannot hazard a guess, as I was not privy to the… kung paano po nila na formulate yung mga questions na yun,&quot; Tongol said.</p><p>However, Tongol said that Senator-Judge Cayetano may have just been testing the witness&#x27;s propensity.</p><p>&quot;However, kung titignan naman po ninyo, tinitest niya lamang po, siguro yung witness don sa propensity niya, kung nagsasabi po ba siya ng totoo o hindi po,&quot; Tongol said.</p><p>According to Atty. Tongol, the statements made by Senator-Judge Pia were simply part of the court&#x27;s deliberative process.</p><p>&quot;Part po yun, ng isang deliberation ng isang korte, kung yung witness na yun ay mapapaniwalaan niya o hindi. So, I think doon po pumunta, yung ating senator judge Pia Cayetano when she asked those questions to the witness,&quot; Tongol said. -- <strong>with a report from Darylle Sarmiento, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oblk667bFwQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Sen. Pia Cayetano on Wednesday asked National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag questions about the Senate gunfire incident in May.</p>

Sen. Pia Cayetano on Wednesday asked National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag questions about the Senate gunfire incident in May.

Pia Cayetano cites Senate gunfire incident to raise doubts on Matibag's credibility

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Pia Cayetano cites Senate gunfire incident to raise doubts on Matibag's credibility

ABS-CBN News

Published July 22, 2026 05:08 PM PHT

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Updated July 22, 2026 09:41 PM PHT

Read More:

Pia Cayetano

Melvin Matibag

National Bureau of Investigation

Sara Duterte

Impeachment

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