In response to intelligence reports regarding alleged security threats targeting the Senate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday took issue with how the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) supposedly withheld this information from certain senators, while simultaneously questioning the agency’s authority on such matters.
“If the threat is credible, then every senator, every member of the Secretariat, and every individual who works within these walls deserves to be informed and protected. Security is not the concern of one bloc. It is the concern of the entire Senate,” the ousted Senate President said in a social media post.
“So the questions are simple. Why was this information shared with some senators and not others? What is the nature of the threat, who assessed it, and on what evidence?” he questioned, adding that, given the report had come from the NBI and not the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms—the office charged with ensuring the institution’s safety—it must be carefully examined.
“This is the same NBI whose personnel, only weeks ago, attempted to prevent an elected Senator from performing his duties, physically assaulted a Senate employee, and recklessly provoked an armed confrontation with our own Senate security inside these very grounds—an incident in which shots were fired within the home of the legislature itself,” Cayetano said.
The former Senate president also cited NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag’s supposed “bias” in “publicly proclaiming” the Gatchalian bloc as “legitimate” instead of maintaining neutrality.
“A clearly partisan NBI that was itself a party to violence within these walls cannot credibly appoint itself the guardian of our safety,” he declared.
The senator also pointed out that the NBI was not among the agencies primarily concerned with national intelligence and security, this being the principal jurisdiction of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
In addition, Cayetano called such information disclosed only to one faction of the Senate a “political instrument” and pointed out that the timing of the alleged threat emerged just as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing started demanding answers regarding the anomalous flood control projects.
He denied that these were “partisan questions,” and warned this was the reason such information should be weighed instead of taken at face value.
“At a time when billions in flood control funds remain under scrutiny, why does the national conversation keep shifting away from accountability? Why does attention move away from the testimonies already heard by the Blue Ribbon Committee? Why do new controversies surface precisely when the hard questions begin?” he questioned.
Additionally, he noted that any move to suspend Senate sessions in the name of security betrays this so-called intelligence report as mere “pretext” or a false, cover-up excuse to suppress senators.
“The surest test of whether a threat is genuine and not a pretext is simple—a real threat is used to protect the Senate’s work, never to suspend it. We will not permit the safety of this institution to become the instrument for silencing it,” Cayetano asserted.
“The Senate works best when it is independent, transparent, and guided by facts rather than fear. Anything less invites the legitimate suspicion that information is being used to manage narratives, pressure the institution, and bring it under greater external control,” he added.
Acting Senate President Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, speaking to DZRH on Tuesday, said that he was informed of possible security threats targeting the Senate, and emphasized the need for tightened security.
Later on the same day, he authorized all Senate secretariat and Senate proper employees to work from home from June 10 to 11, according to reports.
