Gunshots heard at Philippine Senate, people told to run for cover

Gunshots have been heard at the Philippine Senate on Wednesday, and the people inside were told to run for cover, reported Reuters, citing a witness who heard at least five shots initially, with the total rising to more than a dozen. Gunfire was continuing to be heard, according to the witness.

Since Monday, the Senate complex has been a refuge for Senator Bato dela Rosa, who is refusing arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant.

Dela Rosa, who helped a powergrab in the upper chamber of Congress to install now Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, has been placed under the Senate’s protective custody.

Meanwhile, the security forces, led by the National Bureau of Investigation, are seeking to serve the warrant, citing Republic Act 9851, which allows the Philippine government to surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons to an international tribunal prosecuting such crimes.

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Dela Rosa faces charges of crimes against humanity of murder in connection to the bloody war on drugs, which continued from 2016 to 2018 while he was chief of the National Police.

There was chaos in the Philippines parliament when Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the chief enforcer of the former President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” campaign, fled the agents trying to take him under arrest in accordance with the International Criminal Court warrant.

A CCTV footage showed Dela Rosa fleeing into the Senate and locking himself inside as the officers chased him. He was seen racing down the hallways and, at one point, stumbling on the staircase during the escape. The police later said that they could not arrest him.

Dela Rosa is wanted by The Hague for killing 32 people between 2016 and 2018. Allegedly, thousands of drug dealers were killed without any trial.

Former President Duterte has been in the ICC's custody in The Hague since March. He is charged with crimes against humanity and has been accused of being a co-conspirator for murders committed between 2011 and 2019.

Dela Rosa denies the charges

“They want to forcibly bring me to The Hague, to surrender me there,” Dela Rosa said later on a Facebook livestream. On Tuesday, he rejected the ICC’s warrant, arguing that he was leading the war on drugs, and that does not mean he intentionally wanted people killed.

The Philippine police stepped up security outside the Senate hours after the standoff ensued.

Dela Rosa stated that he would remain within the Senate’s premises. He vowed that he would “do everything” to avoid being taken to the Hague. His lawyers have reportedly asked the Supreme Court to block his arrest. In an appeal to his supporters from inside the building, Dela Rosa said they must “keep vigil in front of the Senate until the Supreme Court decides”.