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Reuters

Gunshots broke out at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday and people ran for cover after a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court said his arrest was imminent and security forces entered the building.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, however, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters following the chaos at the legislature in the capital Manila.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a former police chief who was the main enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on ‌drugs”, had earlier urged people to mobilise to prevent his arrest and handover to the ICC.
The Hague-based court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa on charges of crimes against humanity, the same that 81-year-old Duterte is accused of as he awaits trial in the ICC following his transfer last year.


Dela Rosa, 64, has denied involvement in illegal killings.
“I am appealing to you, I hope you can help me. Do not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague,” he said in a video on social media from his Senate office, where he has taken refuge since Monday when placed under legislative protection.
Senate Secretary Mendoza said law enforcement officers believed to be from the National Bureau of ⁠Investigation had attempted to enter the Senate and fired as they retreated.
But NBI Director Melvin Matibag said that no agents had been deployed.
“I spoke with the [justice] minister and he told me ‌to await instructions. We have no preparations whatsoever,” he said.
More than 10 military personnel in camouflage fatigues arrived, some carrying assault rifles, Reuters journalists saw.
The chief of the military’s public affairs office Xerxes Trinidad said the Senate had requested help to “assist them in securing the facility”.

Interior Minister Juanito Victor Remulla said dela Rosa was safe and he assured him no arrest ⁠would be made.
He added that an investigation was under way and security cameras would be reviewed to find out who was behind the gunfire and their intentions.
The office of the ⁠prosecutor at the ICC referred requests for comment to the court. The court’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dela Rosa was Duterte’s top lieutenant overseeing a fierce crackdown during which thousands of alleged drug dealers were slain, ‌with human rights groups accusing police of systematic murders and cover-ups.
Police reject the allegations and say the more than 6,000 killed in anti-drugs operations were all armed and had resisted arrest.
Activists say the real death toll may never be known, with users and ‌small-time peddlers ‌gunned down almost daily in mysterious slumland killings blamed on vigilantes and turf wars.
The Senate was heavily guarded throughout Wednesday, with lines of police deployed to keep the peace as protesters gathered, some ‌calling for the arrest of dela Rosa, better known in the Philippines as “Bato”, or “rock”.
His ally, Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano, said he had spoken to President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, who had assured him ⁠no government personnel had been involved in Wednesday’s incident.

Dela Rosa, who returned to the Senate on Monday for the first time since disappearing from public view in November, has appealed to Marcos not ⁠to hand him over to the ICC.
He has also filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court urging it to block any attempt to transfer him to The Hague. The court in a statement on Wednesday gave all parties to the petition 72 hours to respond.
Dela Rosa insists any transfer to the ICC would be illegal, as ‌the country is no longer a signatory to ‌the Rome Statute.
Duterte unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2018 when its prosecutor announced a preliminary examination into his anti-drugs campaign had started. The ICC says alleged crimes committed while a country was a member are under its jurisdiction.
Duterte is set to become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, a court he repeatedly dared to pursue him during a succession of public speeches, saying he was ready to “rot in jail” to protect his people from the drugs scourge.
He maintains his innocence, according to his legal team.


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Gunshots fired in stand-off at Philippine Senate over ICC suspect

Military personnel enter the Senate building as more than a dozen gunshots were heard at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Senate security personnel and police officers ask members of the media to stay back after gunshots were heard at the Philippine Senate. Photo: Reuters

Philippine Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa at the Senate in Pasay City, Metro Manila on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

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Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa shows his bandaged fingers during a session at the Senate in Metro Manila on Tuesday, a day after he evaded an ICC arrest warrant. Photo: EPA

Riot police (front) block supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ronald dela Rosa in front of the Senate gate in Manila on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Philippine Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano (second from left) with Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa at the Senate in Metro Manila on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

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Philippine former national police chief and now Senator Ronald Dela Rosa tries a semi-automatic rifle during a defence and sporting show in Pasay City in 2023. Photo: AFP

Then Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte talks to then Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa at a press conference in Manila in 2017. Photo: AFP

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officers handcuff a man suspected of involvement in illegal drugs during a raid in Pasig City in 2017. Photo: EPA

Then Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa testifies during a Senate hearing in Pasay in 2017. Photo: Reuters

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Relatives of victims of ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war campaign react after watching a broadcast of the International Criminal Court at a gathering in Quezon City on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

A family member of a victim of the deadly war on drugs carried out during ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration cries on Wednesday in Quezon after a live stream of the ICC’s rejection of Duterte’s legal challenge. Photo: AP

Relatives of victims on the war on drugs carried out during ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration watch an ICC live stream in Quezon on Wednesday. Photo: AP

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Alan Peter Cayetano in 2018. A surprise leadership coup in the Philippine Senate saw Cayetano prevail over Vicente Sotto III, becoming the new Senate president. Photo: AP

Philippine Senator Ronald Dela Rosa attends a plenary session at the Senate in Manila on Monday. Photo: AFP

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Chaos mounted in anticipation of an attempt to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court


Chaos mounted in anticipation of an attempt to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.


Gunshots fired in stand-off at Philippine Senate over ICC suspect

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chaos mounted in anticipation of an attempt to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court

Chaos mounted in anticipation of an attempt to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court