FIRING LINE: Robed as judges after Senate shooting

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

If you missed it while everyone was glued to the Senate impeachment trial, the Office of the Ombudsman has already settled the question of who was responsible for the May 13 shootout at the Senate.

Its findings were disarmingly simple. Of the 44 bullet casings recovered, 39 came from the firearm of then Senate sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca, fired at a lone, retreating National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agent who had already identified himself.

So much for the early narrative. There was no siege. There was no imminent threat. What unfolded instead appears to have been the reckless overreaction of a Senate security chief who turned what could have been a routine warning into something that sounded like the outbreak of a war — inside a building filled with senators, staff, and, crucially, members of the press.

Now that it is clear who pulled the trigger, the more important question is: who set the stage?

As I recall, Aplasca was firing shots while then Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano was shaping the story in real time. “Under attack,” he declared that very night — at a moment when confusion conveniently served as cover for a wanted senator in his bloc to slip away.

At around 2:30 a.m., Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa — a fugitive of the International Criminal Court — reportedly left the Senate premises in the vehicle of fellow Sen. Robin Padilla.

Since then, Cayetano has been unseated, and Padilla has faced questions over possible obstruction of justice. Yet their political bloc remains intact — now cloaked in maroon robes as senator-judges in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

And that is where the situation turns from troubling to absurd.

Consider who sits among them. Padilla, who allegedly helped facilitate Dela Rosa’s escape, once introduced himself as a “graduate of the University of Prison” and has openly pledged loyalty to the Dutertes. There is Bong Go, long regarded as Rodrigo Duterte’s closest aide; Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, recently arrested on plunder charges; and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, a repeat figure in plunder cases, now facing incarceration for the third time. Meanwhile, questions still linger over whether the perpetually elusive Dela Rosa is even in a position — constitutionally or morally — to sit in judgment.

And these are just a few.

It is difficult to accept that individuals carrying such baggage can convincingly present themselves as impartial arbiters in an impeachment court. At times, they resemble less a panel of judges and more a defense team — or, perhaps more fittingly, a support group for the accused.

Watching the proceedings with them in those seats demands a suspension of disbelief that many Filipinos can no longer afford. How are we expected to trust a process shaped by those evading warrants, answering obstruction complaints, or occupying cells reserved for plunder convicts?

Their presence does not inspire confidence. It raises doubts — serious ones — about whether justice is truly the goal, or merely the appearance of it.

And in a moment when public trust is already fragile, that may be the greatest betrayal of all.

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