Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Friday denied allegations that he wanted Senate CCTV footage hidden following Wednesday night’s shooting incident inside the Senate complex, saying his remarks were taken out of context and maliciously interpreted.
Speaking during a virtual press conference, Estrada clarified that when he told Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca to “itago” the CCTV footage, he meant it should be preserved as evidence for the ongoing investigation.
“Ano ba talaga ibig sabihin nun? I-preserve yung CCTV for future reference (What I meant was to preserve the CCTV footage for future reference),” Estrada said.
“Masyado naman binigyan ng kulay yung pagsasalita ko (They gave too much color to what I said),” he added.
Estrada stressed that he would never ask anyone to conceal evidence related to the incident.
“Kaya nga itago, for future reference kasi ebidensiya yun. Ilabas natin yung ebidensiya (That’s why I said keep it because it is evidence for future reference. We should present the evidence),” he said.
The senator also pushed back against claims circulating online suggesting that members of the Senate majority bloc staged the shooting incident.
“Kasi may mga malisyosong tao diyan. Sinasabi nila kami sa majority ang nag-stage ng shooting incident na ‘yan (There are malicious people implying that we in the majority bloc staged the shooting incident),” Estrada said.
Estrada said he supports publicly showing the CCTV footage during plenary discussions so the public can see what really happened inside the Senate that night.
He also said he would not ask social media platforms to take down the viral video clip containing his remarks, insisting that his conscience is clear.