Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano questioned the credibility of any investigation led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the controversial incident at the Senate, saying the agency itself should be among those placed under scrutiny.
He said impartiality must be at the center of the probe, especially since the actions of NBI personnel were themselves under scrutiny.
“How can the NBI investigate if they themselves are being investigated?” Cayetano said, stressing that an inquiry without credibility would be meaningless.
He said the NBI had repeatedly told Senate officials that its agents were not within Senate premises or the GSIS area. He also said the bureau had promised to provide a copy of the warrant but had yet to do so.
Cayetano said this raised questions on how the NBI could claim that the Senate should have detained Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, “even assuming” the chamber had the authority to do so.
Cayetano also raised questions about the movements of law enforcement personnel during the incident, noting that concerns over the operation remained unresolved.
The Senate leader further said he was surprised to hear Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla state that the Department of Justice knew about the NBI’s movements on Monday and Wednesday.
“If you knew, why did you not speak up?” Cayetano said, adding that agencies aware of the operation should not simply announce an investigation after the fact.
Cayetano said this was why he allowed the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to participate in the probe, saying the Senate could not be the only institution looking into the incident.
He also rejected comparisons between serving a warrant inside the Senate and serving one in a private residence, saying the Senate is not a mere government office but a coequal branch of government.
“This is not an ordinary police situation in the street,” Cayetano said. “We are a branch of government. I am not protecting any senator here. We are protecting the integrity of the Senate and the integrity of the Philippine Constitution.”
Cayetano said the matter should not be reduced to personalities or politics, but should be viewed through the lens of law, democracy, and constitutional order.
He also lamented that the search for truth appeared to have turned into a “PR campaign,” with competing narratives overshadowing the need for a credible and fair investigation.
Cayetano said the Senate’s priority was to ensure the safety of everyone inside the chamber, including employees and members of the media who were covering the events.
He maintained that he did not immediately point to the NBI despite initial findings because he did not want to influence the investigation prematurely or escalate tensions between government institutions.
Instead of a public relations battle, Cayetano called for what he described as a “prayer and reflection campaign,” urging the public and officials to step back from competing narratives and allow the investigation to establish the truth.