MANILA, Philippines — Former actress Nadia Montenegro, a staff of Sen. Robin Padilla, denied smoking marijuana inside the ladies’ comfort room.
This was part of an incident report dated Aug. 13 submitted by Victor Patelo, one of the members of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at- Arms (OSAA), who investigated the matter.
He reported to OSAA chief, retired Maj. Gen. Mao Aplasca, two incidents “involving an unusual scent/odor allegedly emanating from the ladies’ comfort room near the Senators extension offices.”
Patelo said the first incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on 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,” he said.
Nadia Montenegro. PHOTO BY JOHN ORVEN VERDOTE
“I proceeded to their office, where most of the staff confirmed the unusual scent. I then inspected the surrounding areas but did not observe anyone smoking,” he said.
The second incident occurred at around 5 p.m. on August 12, while I was on active duty in the 2nd shift (1 p.m. to 11 p.m.) at the 5th level.
He said a male Senate employee approached him after introducing himself as a staff member of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, “and reported noticing an unusual odor coming from the ladies’ comfort room near the Senators’ extension offices.”
Patelo said Lacson’s staff “claimed the odor resembled that of ‘marijuana’ and stated that the only person in the area at the time was allegedly Ms. Nadia Montenegro.”
“The male staff member asked me to discreetly approach Ms. Montenegro, which I did when she walked past my post, as I was unable to leave my station being the only one on duty at the time,” he added.
“Ms. Montenegro denied smoking inside the ladies’ comfort room or using marijuana for that matter, but acknowedged possessing a vape in her bag, which she said could have produced the unusual scent reported earlier by Senator Lacson’s staff,” Patelo added.