Senator Imee Marcos has asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend three officials of the National Bureau of Investigation, including Director Melvin Matibag, following the shooting incident at the Senate building.
In a letter addressed to the President, the senator expressed “serious concern” over what she described as an “alleged siege and firing of shots by NBI” that allegedly caused public alarm and raised questions about Senate security and law enforcement accountability.
Marcos urged the President to temporarily relieve the following officials from their posts pending an investigation:
• NBI Director Melvin Matibag
• NBI-National Capital Region Chief Emeterio Dongallo Jr.
• NBI-Organized and Transnational Crime Division Chief Jerome Bomediano
“Such temporary relief is necessary to preserve the integrity and credibility of the investigation and to remove any appearance of undue influence or impropriety,” the senator said.
Initial investigation showed that a suspect allegedly armed with an undetermined caliber firearm fired several shots inside the Senate building at around 7:50 p.m. within the GSIS compound, triggering panic among those in the area.
However, Matibag earlier denied that NBI agents were deployed at the Senate following the incident. The NBI also maintained that its officials were attending a three-day fellowship event at a hotel during the time of the shooting.
But Senator Marcos questioned those explanations, saying they remained “mere claims.”
“Public concern has been heightened by the inconsistent public statements of Director Matibag, including claims that NBI personnel were merely at Sequoia Hotel for a fellowship, despite reports and videos allegedly showing NBI agents in or within the Senate premises,” she said.
“These conflicting accounts make it all the more important that the investigation proceed free from any perceived interference,” the letter added.
