Nadia Montenegro resigns as Padilla's political affairs officer following alleged marijuana use at Senate

Nadia Montenegro has resigned as the political affairs officer of Sen. Robin Padilla following allegations that she smoked marijuana inside the Senate premises.

"Today, we receive the written explanation and letter of resignation of Ms. Nadia Montenegro. Her resignation has been accepted," read the letter dated Monday, Aug. 18. It was signed by Atty. Rudolf Philip Jurado, chief of staff of Padilla's office.

Montenegro has been on leave since Aug. 13, Jurado previously said.

She was named in a Senate incident report filed by the Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms.

According to the report, Montenegro was the only person in the area when one of Sen. Ping Lacson’s staffers noticed a strong odor resembling marijuana coming from the ladies’ restroom. The staffer informed security personnel, Victor Patelo, who then filed the incident report.

When approached, Montenegro denied it but admitted to owning a vape, which she said might have caused the unusual odor.

The OSAA then submitted the report to Padilla, requesting his "appropriate action."

Padilla requested an investigation, and Jurado, initially declining to name Montenegro, asked the alleged perpetrator to submit a written explanation within five days.

Jurado clarified that he did not go to the OSAA because Padilla was summoned. Instead, he went there for their office's internal investigation. Staffers from both OSAA and Padilla's office, however, had no memory of the incident.

The OSAA said it will forward the report to Senate President Chiz Escudero.

It also announced that they will continue implementing random drug testing among Senate employees, which, Jurado said, Padilla's office finds no issue with. He also asked Montenegro to do a drug test, though the actress was reportedly in talks with a lawyer at the time.