Ombudsman dismisses ex-Senate security chief Mao Aplasca from gov't service

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca has been dismissed from government service, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced on Saturday, July 4.

In a radio interview on DZRH, Remulla said he signed Aplasca's dismissal order on Monday, June 29.

“Noong Monday napirmahan ko na 'yung dismissal ni Mao Aplasca from the service—acting sergeant at arms ng Senate at sergeant at arms ng Commission on Appointments, dinismiss na namin from the service,” Remulla said.

(Last Monday, I signed Mao Aplasca's dismissal from the service. As the acting Senate sergeant-at-arms and the Sergeant-at-arms of the Commission on Appointments, we have dismissed him from the service.)

The ombudsman did not disclose the grounds for the dismissal but said the full decision would be released this week.

"I-rereveal namin ang decision this week para makita ng tao. Ibibigay namin sa media, ipu-publish namin," Remulla said.

(We will release the decision this week so the public can see it. We will provide it to the media and publish it.)

Aplasca has yet to publicly comment on the dismissal.

The former Senate official had been under a six-month preventive suspension without pay since May 15 while the Office of the Ombudsman investigated the May 13 shooting incident at the Senate complex.

The incident unfolded when agents of the National Bureau of Investigation attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Sen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa over crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court.

Aplasca, then the acting Senate sergeant-at-arms and sergeant-at-arms of the Commission on Appointments, reportedly fired the first warning shot that triggered an exchange of gunfire inside the Senate building. He later admitted that personnel from the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms fired first and that a total of 27 "warning shots" were discharged, causing panic and forcing a lockdown of the Senate complex.

Hours after the confrontation, Dela Rosa left the Senate premises despite being under the chamber's protective custody and remains at large.

On June 3, the Senate permanently replaced Aplasca as acting sergeant-at-arms with retired Police Major General Alfredo Sotto Corpuz.

Aplasca had also disputed the government's account of the incident, claiming that closed-circuit television footage released by Malacañang had been "spliced" to support its narrative after the Department of the Interior and Local Government said there had been "no attack" on the Senate.

The shooting incident also prompted multiple complaints against Aplasca, including an obstruction of justice complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman.