A senator on Thursday rejected insinuations linking the Senate minority bloc to the May 13 shooting incident inside the Senate building, saying such claims were unfair, malicious, and baseless.
In a post on X, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson responded to Sen. Pia Cayetano’s statement during Wednesday’s plenary session that she was hurt because members of the former majority, now in the minority bloc, supposedly failed to check on senators who were still in the building during the incident.
“Paano mo ba naman kukumustahin ang mga masasayang nagkakainan, nagkakape, at naka FB live pa para pagbintangan ang minority bloc sa may ala daw sa putukan ng baril sa Senado?” he commented.
Cayetano made the emotional statement after Sen. Risa Hontiveros delivered a privilege speech criticizing the Senate leadership’s handling of the incident, saying it appeared “as if nothing happened.”
Cayetano took offense at the remark, saying that while it may have seemed that way to those who were not in the Senate at the time, the experience was frightening for those who were present.
“Parang walang nangyari. Iyan ang statement ng butihing Senadora Risa Hontiveros. Siguro po para sa inyong mga wala dito. Pero para sa aming nandito, napakaraming nangyari. Takot na takot po ako na kailangan ko nang magpa-alam sa mga anak ko,” Cayetano said while sobbing.
She also said that after the incident, no one from their former majority group chat supposedly checked on them.
Hontiveros later clarified that she deeply respected Cayetano’s emotions and explained that her remark was not about the senators’ personal fear or grief, but about the institution’s response to the incident.
“I was speaking about our institutional posture. Our grief as senators is valid, but our mandate requires action,” Hontiveros said.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo, for his part, disputed the claim that the minority bloc failed to check on their colleagues. In a phone patch interview, Tulfo said he and Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Paolo Benigno Aquino, and Sherwin Gatchalian sent messages to the group chat to ask about the condition of their colleagues still inside the Senate.
He said Sen. Camille Villar replied at around 9:50 pm that “we are okay,” followed by messages from minority senators. He said Zubiri and Gatchalian sent “keep safe” messages at around 9:56 pm, while he sent a message at around 9:57 pm saying he would pray for them. Aquino also sent a message telling everyone to keep safe.
“So, baka hindi lang po nakita ni Sen. Pia o dahil may commotion or sa sobrang takot. Wala rin po siguro nagsabi sa kanya. Sen. Pia, meron naman in fairness yung mga minority natin nag text sila. Baka nakalimot lang,” Tulfo said.
He noted that the incident was unfortunate and added that the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, the Philippine National Police, and the Marine contingent should have prioritized securing senators who remained inside the Senate building.
He said security personnel appeared to have focused on the area where suspended Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Ma-o Aplasca was, instead of immediately securing the senators.
“Yung safety nila ang dapat inuna,” Tulfo said.
He added that he understood why Cayetano became emotional, saying senators inside the building were apparently left without sufficient security while personnel focused elsewhere.
He also said members of the minority bloc had already left the Senate when the shooting happened because they were informed that the caucus called by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano was only for the majority bloc.
Lacson, in an earlier interview, also denied claims that minority senators went home early because they had prior knowledge that something would happen.
“It is an unfair and malicious insinuation that we in the minority bloc went home early and left them behind because we knew something would happen. That is quite far from the truth. There is no basis for that because no one knew what would happen that night,” Lacson said.