Senator Robinhood Padilla has ordered an investigation following reports that one of his staff members was allegedly caught smoking marijuana within the Senate premises.
On Thursday, August 14, Padilla’s chief of staff, Atty. Rudolf Philip Jurado, confirmed that their office has requested a written explanation from the staff member identified in the circulating news reports.
The explanation is expected to be submitted within the day.
Acting on Padilla’s directive, Jurado met with Retired Major General Mao Aplasca, head of the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms (OSAA), to request an incident report and verify whether the staff member was indeed caught using marijuana.
“I went to OSAA to confirm if our office was the one mentioned in the news reports and to gather information, as we are conducting our own investigation into the matter,” Jurado said in a text message.
Aplasca stated that the OSAA is still investigating the case and will submit their findings to Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero. (Dhel Nazario)
