Senator Robin Padilla's lawyer, Atty. Philip Jurado said on Friday morning that the recent news reports alleging marijuana use by Padilla's staff, Nadia Montenegro do not match the details of the incident report from the Office of the Sergeant-of-Arms of the Senate (OSAA).
In an exclusive interview at DZRH's Magandang Umaga Pilipinas, Jurado emphasized that the incident report was far from the news story which was circulating since Wednesday.
"Kung babasahin ang incident report wala naman talagang sinabi na nakita si Nadia, ibang-iba ‘yung istorya doon sa news report. Dito incident report... ang layo ng istorya," Jurado said.
The lawyer noted that the incident report itself does not confirm any direct observation of marijuana use.
According to the report, the staffer only encountered someone who claimed to have notices odor resembled the scent of "marijuana," but no direct evidence or confrimation was recorded.
"Base doon sa incident report sinabi rin nung allegedly sumita sa kanya wala namang nakita talaga. Kung sa ano, umakto lang siya ng lumapit sa kanya at pinaamoy daw," he stated.
"Ang problema hindi naman pala siya pumunta doon sa lugar na kung saan allegedly nag-marijuana. So, hindi niya nalaman o naamoy kung mayroon talagang nag-marijuana doon sa lugar," Jurado stressed.
On August 13, the OSAA released incident report submitted by Victor Patelo, in which he informed OSAA chief, retired Maj. Gen. Mao Aplasca, about the two incidents "involving an unusual scent/odor allegedly emanating from the ladies' comfort room near the Senators extension offices."
Patelo stated that the first incident occurred at around 5 p.m. during the second week of July 2025.
"While manning my post on the 5th level, I received a call on the local trunk line of my post from a male staff member, reporting a strong odor in their area," Patelo said in the incident report.
However, upon inspecting the said area, Patelo did not observe anyone smoking.
While the second incident happened on Tuesday, August 12, when a male staff, introducing himself as a staff member of Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, approched him and reported "noticing an unusual odor coming from the ladies’ comfort room near the Senators’ extension offices."
Pantelo added that the male staff claimed the odor resembled "'marijuana' and stated that the only person in the area at the time was allegedly Ms. Nadia Montenegro."
When he approached, Montenegro denied smoking marijuana inside the ladies' comfort room, but acknowleged that she has a vape in her bag, which she sai might have produced the smell.
TINGNAN: Nadia Montenegro, pinangalanan na bilang empleyado na humihithit umano ng marijuana sa Senado sa inilabas na incident report ng Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms | RH 28 @RaymundDadpaas, DZRH News pic.twitter.com/P55uDBmsXX
— DZRH NEWS (@dzrhnews) August 14, 2025
As of 6:00 a.m., Jurado said Padilla has not yet spoken directly with Montenegro, and she has not provided her explanation regarding the alleged incident, since the staffer was on leave when the report was issued.
"So far ang sabi niya [Sen. Robin] hintayin ang explanation ng empleyado natin. Tingnan natin kung ano ang sasbaihin niya so nandoon pa lang kami sa level na iyon," Jurado said.
The OSAA and Padilla's office on Wednesday said that they have conducted investigation about the incident report.
