MANILA — Gunfire broke out Wednesday night inside the Philippine Senate building in Pasay as authorities moved to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, witnesses and journalists at the scene said.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the shots or whether anyone was hurt. Dela Rosa, a former national police chief, has been sheltering in the Senate with the backing of allied lawmakers as police and investigators pressed an effort to detain him and possibly hand him over to the ICC.
Senate President Alan Cayetano briefly addressed reporters and said building security had informed him shots were fired, though he gave few details before quickly leaving. “The emotions are high here,” he said, adding that the Senate felt it was under attack. A large group of reporters and camera crews who had been covering the tense standoff were held on the second floor; some were later permitted to leave after Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. arrived with police officers.
The ICC on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa that was originally issued in November. The warrant accuses him of the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, while he led the Philippine National Police during President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign.
Dela Rosa, 64, has vowed to contest the ICC order in court and urged supporters to gather at the Senate to block what he described as an imminent arrest. National Bureau of Investigation agents attempted to detain him earlier in the week, but he ran to the Senate plenary hall and sought protection from fellow senators; Cayetano said he would move to cite the government agents involved for contempt.
Dela Rosa denied condoning extrajudicial killings while police chief and said he would face any accusations in Philippine courts rather than abroad. “We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte,” he said in a Facebook message, blaming politics for the situation.
The developments come after the ICC successfully secured the arrest of former president Duterte in March of last year; according to the court and reporting at the time, he was flown to The Hague and remains detained in the Netherlands pending trial on alleged crimes against humanity related to the anti-drug crackdown. Dela Rosa has been named among several alleged co-perpetrators.
Hundreds of police officers were stationed outside the Senate to maintain order, a deployment that drew criticism from dela Rosa and his allies. Within the chamber, debate grew heated: five senators filed a resolution urging his surrender, while 13 of 24 senators aligned with dela Rosa recently seized control of Senate leadership, blocking efforts by opponents.
Vice President Sara Duterte, who has accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of allowing what she called the “kidnapping” of her father, has been among those sharply critical of the handling of the ICC detentions. Dela Rosa, once a key Duterte ally and former police chief in Davao—where Duterte was mayor—has frequently denounced the ICC action and appealed politically to prevent his transfer.
The Philippines formally withdrew from the ICC in 2019, but the court says it retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the country was still a member. The ICC has not immediately commented on the shooting in Manila.