A DRIVER working for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was arrested Wednesday night after multiple gunshots rang out inside the Senate building in Pasay City, triggering panic, a full lockdown, and widespread alarm amid the ongoing standoff over Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.
According to a police report from the Southern Police District obtained Thursday, the suspect is a 44‑year‑old Filipino male known only by his alias “Mel Oragon,” and is formally employed as a driver under the NBI. The incident took place around 7:50 p.m. within the GSIS Compound, when the suspect — allegedly armed with a firearm of undetermined caliber — discharged several rounds inside the premises, sending people scrambling for safety and heightening already intense tensions.
Senate Security Detachment personnel immediately responded, successfully subduing and taking Oragon into custody before he could cause further harm or escalation.
Following his arrest, he underwent a paraffin examination on site to verify if he had indeed fired a weapon. Authorities have since placed him under the custody of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant‑at‑Arms, with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group now leading the probe. Philippine National Police spokesperson Police Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño confirmed the development, saying the individual remains detained as investigators work to piece together exactly what happened and why.
Significantly, the arrest contradicts earlier statements from NBI Director Melvin Matibag, who had publicly asserted shortly after the gunshots were heard that no NBI agents or personnel had been deployed or were present at the Senate that evening. Matibag’s remarks were widely reported at the time as an effort to distance the bureau from the incident, but the suspect’s status as an NBI employee has raised new questions about his role, his presence there, and whether he acted alone or had any connection to the law enforcement agency. Investigators are now conducting deeper background checks, gathering physical evidence, and interviewing witnesses to establish the full context and motive behind the shooting.
Prosecutors are preparing multiple criminal charges against Oragon, including violations of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, alarms and scandals, grave threats, direct assault, and breach of Senate security regulations.
The incident unfolded at the height of a major political and legal crisis: with Dela Rosa staying inside the Senate under protective custody to avoid an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, and reports circulating of threats, power outages, and fears of an armed attempt to take him into custody. What began as a tense standoff between state institutions turned chaotic with the sound of gunfire — and now, the arrest of an NBI driver has added yet another layer of complexity to one of the most dramatic episodes in recent Philippine political history.
