ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Gunfire Erupts at Philippine Senate Amid Standoff Over ICC Suspect

Earlier this week, Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the enforcer of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” fled to his Senate office to avoid arrest on a warrant from the ICC.

The empty hall of the Philippine Senate in Pasay City, Philippines, May 29, 2025.

Gunfire broke out amid chaotic scenes at the Philippine Senate ​yesterday, after armed men attempted to enter areas of the building where Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is hiding out to avoid an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Dela Rosa, the chief enforcer of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent “war on drugs” campaign, locked himself in his Senate office on Monday, after fleeing from officers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

A few hours later, the ICC announced that it had unsealed a warrant seeking the 64-year-old’s arrest on charges of crimes against humanity. The warrant, which was initially issued on November 6, was issued after the Pretrial Chamber “found reasonable grounds” that Dela Rosa was “criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator… for the crime against humanity of murder.”

On the same day, a leadership coup in the Senate installed Senator Peter Allan Cayetano, a Duterte ally, as the chamber’s president, who immediately said that Dela Rosa was under the Senate’s protection.

Inquirer.net reported that the gunfire erupted after unidentified armed men attempted to enter the area of the Senate building where Dela Rosa is currently laying low.

Chaos subsequently ensued in the crowded upper halls of the building. “The sound of several gunshots sent journalists fleeing for cover, minutes after law enforcers with rifles and protective gear went up the stairs of the legislative building,” it stated. Reuters journalists said that they “heard more than a dozen shots ring out at the Senate as those inside scrambled for cover,” the news agency reported.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla later told the media that the first shots were fired by personnel belonging to the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA).

“At approximately 7:46 p.m., armed men tried to enter through the second floor but were stopped by the OSAA,” said Remulla. “They had firearms with them but the OSAA fired the warning shots. They retreated to the back and then started firing.” He said that there were no casualties.

The identity of the armed men is unclear. The heads of the NBI and the Philippine National Police (PNP) subsequently denied that any of their men were involved, and Remulla said that they did not come to arrest Dela Rosa on the ICC warrant. “We don’t know who is behind this but we will find them,” he said.

President ‌Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also called for calm and stated that the government was not responsible for the incident, Inquirer.net reported. He added that the........

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