DOJ conducts ocular inspection at Senate amid shooting incident probe

DOJ conducts ocular inspection at Senate amid shooting incident probe The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said it has conducted an ocular inspection at the Senate premises amid its investigation into the events at the upper chamber from May 11 to 14, 2026. Justice Undersecretary Ian Dato said the DOJ panel of prosecutors conducted the ocular inspection on June 30. “The panel has likewise formally requested relevant documentary evidence, including CCTV footage and other materials necessary for the investigation,” he said in a press briefing. “Case build up is continuing including the determination of the liability, if any, of individuals who may have facilitated the escape of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa,” he added. Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida previously said the DOJ is looking into whether the events at the Senate were planned to help Dela Rosa escape, from placing him under protective custody up to the May 13 shooting incident. Dato said that the panel is still completing its investigation. TIMELINE: What happened before, during, after Senate shooting incident Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant for "alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator" in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died. To recall, authorities attempted to serve the warrant against Dela Rosa on May 11. Dela Rosa was later placed under protective custody. In the early morning of May 14, he slipped out of the Senate premises, hours after the Senate went on lockdown and a shooting incident erupted at the office building where the upper chamber is located. The senator has not appeared publicly since. —RF, GMA News