Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Aplasca to Appeal Ombudsman Dismissal

Former Senate acting sergeant-at-arms Mao Aplasca believes that the Office of the Ombudsman did not consider all the evidence when making its decision to suspend him for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty in connection with the May 13 shooting incident at the upper chamber. In a statement, Aplasca said he will challenge the decision in the proper forum. “We were expecting the Ombudsman to consider all the evidence we have submitted, but we believe that the decision rendered did not, so we will challenge this decision in the proper forum at the right time,” he said. The case stemmed from the gun-related incident between personnel of the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and National Bureau of Investigation agents stationed near the GSIS complex on May 13. It was Aplasca who made the first “warning shot” during the incident. In its ruling, the Ombudsman said Aplasca's decision to fire warning shots was "unjustified, endangered lives, violated established rules on the on the use of force and reflected a flagrant disregard of his duties as the Senate official primarily responsible for maintaining security and order." It also did not give weight to Aplasca's justification that he believed unidentified armed individuals posed a threat to the Senate. The Ombudsman said that there was “no actual, sudden, unexpected or imminent danger” to Aplasca. It added that if there was aggression, it was Aplasca who started it. Aplasca, however, said he did not know how the Ombudsman defined threat and aggression. He maintained that an “intruder” to his security jurisdiction. —LDF, GMA News