MANILA – Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) acting chief Mao Aplasca on Friday explained his decision to fire a warning shot during the May 13 gunfire incident inside the Senate building in Pasay City.

Aplasca said he discharged the warning shot after he and OSAA personnel encountered armed individuals who he later identified as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) personnel within Senate jurisdiction.

“Ang warning shot po, ginagawa po namin pag mayroon po kaming na-perceive na danger sa buhay ng ating mga kapulisan (We use warning shots when we perceive danger to the lives of our policemen),” Aplasca said.

He said OSAA personnel first confronted the armed individuals, asked them to identify themselves, and ordered them to lower their firearms, but these were not followed.

“Ako po ang nagpaputok ng warning shot. Ang protocol po namin kung may makita po kaming danger, i-challenge po namin sila kung sino po sila, ‘yung identity nila (I was the one who fired the warning shot. Our protocol is that if we see danger, we challenge them to identify themselves),” he said.

Aplasca added that the NBI did not coordinate with Senate security prior to the operation.

He also said he fired only once, noting that based on his experience, a warning shot should not be repeated.

When asked why media personnel and other civilians were not fully cleared from the area before the confrontation, Aplasca acknowledged that clearing procedures would have been ideal but said OSAA had limited time to act.

“Tama po kayo, na sinasabi mo na dapat i-bucket. Pero there’s no perfect situation. Kulang po ang oras namin para gawin po ‘yun (You are right, that the area should have been cleared. But there is no perfect situation. We lacked time to do that),” he said.

Aplasca said OSAA is still reviewing closed-circuit television footage and other materials to determine the full sequence of events.

Aplasca, a retired police major general, previously served as Senate Sergeant-at-Arms from July 2025 to February 2026 and earlier held the same post in the House of Representatives from 2020 to 2021.

He also held senior posts in the Philippine National Police, including Director for Operations, Calabarzon regional director, and Aviation Security Group director.