Gunshots fired at Philippine Senate during arrest of ICC-wanted senator
Gunshots have been heard in the Philippine Senate building, Senate authorities said on Wednesday, as a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court is holed up in the building to resist arrest.
Objective Facts
A burst of gunfire rang out Wednesday night in the Philippine Senate, where authorities have tried to arrest a senator who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for a charge of crime against humanity. Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was captured on CCTV running from local agents through the halls of the Senate earlier on Monday. When local investigative unit officers failed to arrest the 64-year-old, having pursued him through the bowels of parliament, riot police surrounded the Senate compound. It is unclear who fired the shots in the incident, and no casualties have been reported, multiple senators told reporters on Wednesday night. The Philippines country's Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Jonvic Remulla entered the Senate building on Wednesday night. Remulla has assured Dela Rosa that he will not be served with an arrest warrant. Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan said "Duterte's allies believe they are above accountability, they do not recognise the sovereignty of international law and refuse accusations against them", characterizing the Duterte camp's stance on international accountability.
Left-Leaning Perspective
Amnesty International Philippines executive director Ritz Lee Santos III called for immediate arrest of Dela Rosa following the ICC warrant, stating "Dela Rosa held a key role in the implementation of the so-called 'war on drugs' under the administration of former President Duterte, responsible for command and direction over the police" and "Dela Rosa's current position as Senator should not shield him from facing charges at the ICC." Human Rights Watch documented that extrajudicial killings spread across the country when Duterte became president and Dela Rosa ascended the upper echelons of the national police force. Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan characterized Duterte's allies as those who "believe they are above accountability, they do not recognise the sovereignty of international law and refuse accusations against them", framing their resistance to ICC jurisdiction as defiance of international legal authority. Left-leaning coverage emphasizes accountability for alleged crimes against humanity and the principle that legislative immunity should not shield individuals from ICC prosecution. The left-aligned human rights perspective downplays concerns about national sovereignty in ICC cases and focuses on the scale of alleged killings and Dela Rosa's documented role in implementation.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Dela Rosa's defense emphasized jurisdictional concerns, arguing "the ICC has no jurisdiction to arrest him without approval from the local Supreme Court" and stating: "If there is a legitimate warrant of arrest, they should bring it before the local court. Let's discuss it, and we will face it." Senate allies supporting Dela Rosa, including those who voted to install Cayetano as Senate President, moved to place him under "protective custody," effectively shielding him from arrest and demonstrating organized legislative support for resisting ICC enforcement. Police reject allegations of systematic murders and say the more than 6,000 killed in anti-drugs operations were all armed and had resisted arrest. Right-aligned commentary emphasizes national sovereignty, questioning whether the ICC can unilaterally enforce warrants in a country that has withdrawn from the Rome Statute, and disputes the characterization of anti-drug operations as "extrajudicial killings." The right downplays human rights organization claims and emphasizes Duterte-era security justifications for the drug war actions.
Deep Dive
Duterte himself was dramatically arrested at Manila's international airport in March 2025 and was put on a plane to The Hague, where he remains in ICC custody. A start date for his trial has not yet been set. Duterte was arrested in March last year and flown to the ICC's headquarters in The Hague for detention. He remains detained by the ICC in the Netherlands and is facing a trial for alleged crimes against humanity for the killings in his brutal crackdown, in which dela Rosa has been named as one of several co-perpetrators. The standoff reflects broader tensions over ICC authority, post-withdrawal jurisdiction, and the mechanics of enforcing international warrants when national authorities are divided. The Philippines was a signatory to the ICC, but Duterte canceled its membership after the court began probing his drug war. However, under the ICC's withdrawal mechanism, the court keeps jurisdiction over crimes committed during the membership – in this case, between 2016 and 2019, when the Philippines' pullout became official. Human rights advocates argue the killings meet the threshold of crimes against humanity, while government supporters and police defend the operations as necessary law enforcement. The unresolved question is whether the Philippines country's Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Jonvic Remulla, who entered the Senate building on Wednesday night and assured Dela Rosa that he will not be served with an arrest warrant, represents a government decision not to enforce the ICC warrant or a tactical pause. The immediate trigger for the gunshots remains unknown, with both Senate officials and NBI director denying responsibility, leaving the source and intent of the incident unresolved as of Wednesday night.
Regional Perspective
Rappler reported that gunshots were fired within the Senate building after it went into lockdown on Wednesday night, with the lockdown coming hours after the Supreme Court did not provide immediate relief to Senator Bato dela Rosa. Past 7 pm, reporters were told to leave the Senate building ahead of the impending lockdown. Reporters also saw soldiers inside the building. Some reporters were even blocked from going to the Senate's fifth floor, where Dela Rosa's office is located. At around 7:45 pm, reporters heard multiple gunshots being fired inside the Senate premises. Philippine media provided granular, real-time reporting on the physical details of the lockdown and soldier movements that international outlets did not capture. Rappler reported that Senate Secretary Mark Leandro Mendoza said armed personnel — allegedly from the NBI — were the first to fire shots, but NBI Director Melvin Matibag disputed this, saying NBI personnel in the vicinity of the Senate did not have firearms with them. Matibag also said they were not enforcing any warrants on Wednesday night. Philippine media documented internal government contradictions more explicitly than international outlets, which often reported conflicting accounts without naming the Philippine officials on each side of the dispute. Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability. While international media noted the withdrawal, Philippine media contextualized it within ongoing domestic political maneuvering—specifically, that Senate allies installed a Duterte supporter as Senate President to provide legislative protection. This structural political dimension (how national institutions are being weaponized to shield an ICC defendant) was central to Philippine reporting but received less emphasis in Western international coverage focused on ICC jurisdiction questions.