MANILA — National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag delivered a sharp counterpunch Tuesday, declaring that Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano should be the first to face suspension if the principle of command responsibility is invoked.
Matibag was responding directly to Cayetano’s call for the Ombudsman to suspend him over last week’s chaotic shooting incident inside the Senate complex. In a fiery appearance on the Machra’s Balitaan forum, the NBI chief turned the tables on the Senate leader.
“If command responsibility will be the basis, the first person who should be suspended is Senator Alan Peter Cayetano,” Matibag said pointedly.
The controversy erupted after the Office of the Ombudsman slapped a six-month preventive suspension on Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca. Aplasca admitted firing the first warning shot, which triggered a volley of gunfire between his team and NBI agents last Wednesday night.
Matibag argued that since Aplasca falls under Cayetano’s direct authority as Senate President, any application of command responsibility should begin at the top. “Who fired the first shot? If no one fired the first shot, maybe there wouldn’t have been any fireworks there,” he stressed.
He added that Aplasca himself admitted they were actively discussing the unfolding events at the time.
Matibag made it clear he is ready to face any investigation and accept whatever penalty may result. However, he firmly rejected claims that the Senate was under attack, revealing that NBI agents were deployed only at the request of GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso to secure the premises amid rising tensions surrounding the possible arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
“We were there to promote law and order,” Matibag emphasized. “The Senate was never under attack. What happened is that the NBI is now under attack.”
The tense exchange comes as the country continues to watch the dramatic fallout from the Senate incident, which occurred just before dela Rosa left the building early Thursday morning.
