A formal letter from Senator Imee R. Marcos landed at Malacañan Palace on Thursday, May 14, 2026 — a day after shots were fired inside the Senate complex in Manila — calling on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to pull three senior National Bureau of Investigation officials off their posts while an inquiry into the alarming incident gets underway.
Three NBI Officials Named for Temporary Suspension
The senator's letter, addressed formally to "His Excellency Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.," identified the three officials she wants temporarily removed: NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag, NBI-National Capital Region Chief Atty. Emeterio Dongallo Jr., and NBI-Organized and Transnational Crime Division Chief Atty. Jerome Bomediano.
Senator Marcos was clear that her request was not intended as a prejudgment of guilt. Rather, she framed it as a procedural safeguard — arguing that the continued active service of the named officials during the investigation would risk tainting any findings that might emerge.
"Such temporary relief is necessary to preserve the integrity and credibility of the investigation and to remove any appearance of undue influence or impropriety," Senator Marcos wrote in her May 14 letter.
A separate six-point public statement, posted by the senator under the hashtag #IMEEsolusyon, accompanied the letter and offered her account of the events of the night of May 13, pushing back against what she described as the government's inconsistent version of events.
Conflicting Accounts of NBI's Presence at the Senate
At the heart of Senator Marcos's complaint is a disputed detail: what, exactly, were NBI agents doing near or inside the Senate on the evening of May 13? According to Senator Marcos, NBI Director Matibag publicly claimed that his personnel had been at the adjacent Sequoia Hotel for a fellowship gathering — a characterization the senator said was directly contradicted by video footage and reports placing NBI agents within the boundaries of the Senate complex itself.
"These conflicting accounts make it all the more important that the investigation proceed free from any perceived interference," Senator Marcos said in her letter to the President.
She questioned why, if NBI agents were only at a nearby hotel for a social event, there was no advance coordination with the Senate President or the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) — coordination she said had been observed in previous similar operations.
Senate Security Fired Warning Shot, Marcos Says
In her public statement, Senator Marcos acknowledged that the first shot fired during the incident came from Senate security personnel under the OSAA. However, she argued that this constituted justifiable self-defense rather than an unprovoked act of aggression.
According to Senator Marcos, NBI agents had entered the Senate premises without authorization, allegedly breaching through a wall from the adjoining Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building. She said the agents refused multiple demands to stand down and lower their long arms and ammunition before the OSAA fired a single warning round. She further claimed that several volleys from NBI personnel followed that initial shot.
"They were clearly assaulting the Senate, and it was mere self-defense for the Senate to fire a single warning shot, after which several volleys were fired by the NBI, further justifying Senate security's single shot," Senator Marcos stated in her six-point public assessment.
Senator Raises Legal Questions Over Dela Rosa Warrant
A significant portion of Senator Marcos's statement challenged the legal foundation of any action against Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant linked to his time as Philippine National Police chief during the Duterte administration's anti-drug campaign — the broader context in which the Senate lockdown unfolded on the night of May 13.
Senator Marcos pointed to a position already articulated by Director Matibag himself — that there were "instructions not to arrest" Senator Dela Rosa — and asked why, in that case, NBI agents were positioned near the upper chamber at all.
"If they were not going to arrest Bato, what was the NBI doing at the Senate? Why did they not coordinate with the Senate President and the OSAA, as they said they had done in past operations?" Senator Marcos asked in her statement.
She also cited Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor "Jonvic" Remulla, who she said clarified during his appearance at the Senate on the night of May 13 that any ICC-related matter must be processed through the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) and local courts before it can be acted upon domestically.
Senator Marcos further noted that the Philippine government, in the earlier case involving former President Rodrigo Duterte, coordinated only with Interpol — and stressed that, as of her statement on May 14, no confirmed public report had established the existence of an active Interpol request involving Senator Dela Rosa.
"How can there be obstruction of justice if there is no valid and officially recognized warrant against Bato?" Senator Marcos asked.
What Happened on the Night of May 13
The events that triggered Senator Marcos's letter began on the evening of Wednesday, May 13, 2026, when the Senate complex in Manila was placed under lockdown amid reports that law enforcement authorities might attempt to apprehend Senator Dela Rosa on the premises. Gunshots were subsequently reported on the second floor of the Senate building, sparking widespread public alarm and raising constitutional questions about the arrest of a sitting legislator inside the upper chamber.
In a video message released late that same evening, President Marcos denied any government involvement in the incident. The President said no soldier, police officer, or NBI agent from outside had entered the Senate and that no orders had been issued to arrest Dela Rosa, according to his recorded statement.
Two Separate Investigations Now Running
As of May 14, 2026, both the Senate and the Philippine National Police had announced that they were conducting parallel but separate investigations into the events of May 13. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, had reportedly given the government a 72-hour window to respond to legal questions surrounding the standing of any potential warrant against Senator Dela Rosa — a resolution still pending as of the time of writing.
Senator Marcos's letter made no indication that a response from the President had been received, and it remained unclear as of publication whether any action had been taken regarding the three NBI officials she named. The incident has sharpened political tensions in Manila, focusing attention on questions of coordination — or the lack of it — between executive law enforcement agencies and the Senate's own security apparatus, as well as the unresolved legal issue of whether a valid, domestically recognized warrant against Senator Dela Rosa exists under Philippine law.
Source: Originally reported by Philippine news wire reports