Acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca admitted on Friday, May 15 that he was Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela’s mistah at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

Aplasca, in an interview on Radio DZBB, confirmed this but said he is not giving the senator any special treatment.

“Wala pong special treatment, Ako, bilang Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, gagawin ko ang trabaho ko na naaayon sa batas (There’s no special treatment. As Senate Sergeant-at-arms, I will just do my job according to the law),” Aplasca said.

“Katulad ng sinabi ni Senate President (like what the Senate President said), the Senate will only honor and respect an order of arrest issued by a local judicial authority,”  he said.

Aplasca recently became the head of the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms after the resignation of retired Air Force Major General Rene Samonte. He was Dela Rosa's "mistah" at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA); both entered the institution in 1982.

Dela Rosa graduated in 1986 while Aplasca graduated in 1987. It was also Dela Rosa who nominated Aplasca as head of the OSAA in July 2025.

Despite this ties, Aplasca said he just maintains a personal relationship with Dela Rosa, but that he is not part of the political team of the senator.

“Hindi ako kasama sa political team ni Sen. Bato (I’m not part of Sen. Bato’s political team),” he said.

In another live interview, the former police general clarified that the Senate security has no power to keep Dela Rosa from leaving the Senate premises, which the latter did before dawn on Thursday.

“Kung gusto niyang umalis, wala kaming magagawa kung ayaw niyang i-avail yung privilege ng protective custody ng Senate (If he wants to leave, we can’t do anything about it if he doesn’t want to avail the Senate’s offer of protective custody),” he said.

He further clarified that the Senate protective custody is not the same as  putting Dela Rosa under arrest.

Aplasca also cited the orders of Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano who insisted that they will only respect and cooperate if the arresting officer will carry a judicial order coming from a local court.

Based on the CCTV footage and the accounts of the Senate security, dela Rosa left the compound with Sen. Robin Padilla, the senator’s party-mate at Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban).

He also said that when the two walked straight to Padilla’s vehicle to leave the Senate, the senators did not seem to hide their movements.

Nevertheless, Aplasca said they are conducting an investigation why they were not informed of their plan or why the security personnel did not bar them leaving the Senate grounds.

‘Seeking PNP custody’

In a separate interview with Senate reporters, Aplasca said Dela Rosa wants to be under the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP), an institution he once led during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Aplasca said Dela Rosa had talked to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. about considering going into police custody.

“Actually, nasabi niya na baka pwede mo akong bigyan ng isang kwarto dyan sa White House. Pero wala pong commitment na nabigay si Chief PNP. Pero ang naalala ko, sinabi din si CPNP  sige po, sir, pag-aaralan namin kasi pwede naman. Ipahiram namin sa inyo yung isang floor ng mga condo namin (He asked that he be given a room at the White House. But the Chief PNP did not make any commitment. But what I remember was that the Chief PNP said sir, we will study that because that can be done. We can lend you one floor of our condos),” he said.

Aplasca also said he felt that Dela Rosa is “not safe anymore” in the Senate.

“Malungkot nga ako na umalis siya dito eh. Kasi dito, eh meron akong control para protectahan si Sen. Bato. Eh, sa labas, hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari (I’m sad that he chose to leave here. Because here, I have control to protect Sen. Bato. But outside of the Senate,  I don’t know what may happen to him),” he said.