Gunfire chaos as Philippine senator resists ICC arrest: What we know so far

Gunshots rang out at the Philippine Senate after a politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) urged the public to prevent his arrest.

Chaotic scenes ensued - the building was locked down and troops wearing flak jackets, some wielding long firearms, surrounded the Senate premises

Senator Ronald dela Rosa is accused by the ICC of killing dozens of people when he was police chief during former president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

He has sought refuge in the Senate, resulting in a standoff that brought the country's already tense political atmosphere to a rolling boil. Here is what we know so far.

Dela Rosa was the chief enforcer of former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs as head of the Philippine National Police from 2016 to 2018.

That campaign saw thousands of suspected drug dealers and small-time pushers killed and led to charges before the ICC. Rights groups said many of the suspects were summarily executed.

Duterte was arrested and brought to the Hague in March 2025 and the ICC warrant for Dela Rosa's arrest was unsealed on Monday, the same day Dela Rosa attended Senate sessions after months of unexplained absence.

Dela Rosa has sought protective custody from the Senate and has asked the Supreme Court to stop local authorities from enforcing the ICC warrant.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC when he was president but the tribunal still pursued the crimes against humanity case, arguing it had jurisdiction for deaths that happened before the withdrawal in 2019.

The ICC case also covered drug war deaths during Duterte's years as mayor of Davao, a southern metropolis where he built a reputation as a populist, tough-talking crime-buster.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Dela Rosa's arrest. Instead, it gave the government of President Ferdinand Marcos 72 hours to comment on the senator's petition.

Dela Rosa is among Duterte's most loyal lieutenants. When he retired from the police force, Duterte appointed him as chief of the prisons bureau. The following year, he ran for senator and won.

Last year, Dela Rosa was re-elected senator, placing third in the race for 12 seats. That election, which came two months after Duterte was jailed in the Hague, saw the former president's candidates fare better than expected compared to those of his family's political foe, President Marcos.

Dela Rosa is also a colourful character: he is more popularly known by his nickname Bato, the Tagalog word for rock. His demeanour around Duterte has also spawned a handful of memes, including one where he bobs his head from side-to-side while Duterte was speaking.

During a break from the Senate session early Wednesday evening, Dela Rosa went live on Facebook and said he received information that the authorities were coming to arrest him.

"I am here calling for your help: let us not have another Filipino brought to The Hague like President Duterte," Dela Rosa said.

About an hour later, several gunshots rang out, with television reports saying that the sounds came from the second floor.

Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told local media that the National Bureau of Investigation tried to enter the Senate and fired shots as they retreated.

But the head of the NBI, the Philippines' equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, said no agents were deployed to the Senate.

The chaos unfolded before live television cameras. Journalists and Senate staff ran for cover with their mobile phones to their ears.

Police and military personnel were seen patrolling the senate grounds, with their rifles pointed to the ground.

The Senate building's steel doors were rolled down as it was placed on lockdown.

Television cameras also caught Dela Rosa walking hurriedly to the lifts. In another part of the building, some of his colleagues who were holding a meeting also went live on Facebook to say how they heard gunshots and that they were safe.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla then entered the building to meet with the senators. He also said he was not there to arrest Dela Rosa.

After a few minutes, Remulla emerged from the building with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano. They said no one was hurt. They said shots were fired but refused to say who were behind them as investigations were underway.

President Marcos spoke in a YouTube video to appeal for calm. "We will get to the bottom of this... Was this encounter part of destabilisation? We will need to know," Marcos said.

The morning after, police said they detained at least one man in connection with the shooting.

The shooting underscores the tense in political atmosphere in Manila that has now come to a boil.

Vice-President Sara Duterte, President Marcos' chief political foe, was impeached by the House of Representatives on Monday for alleged corruption and allegedly making threats against Marcos' life.

The articles of impeachment, or the documents related to the case, were sent to the Senate on the day of the shooting.

The Senate will serve as an impeachment court with the power to convict or acquit the vice-president. If found guilty, Sara Duterte will be effectively barred from running for president in 2028.

Dela Rosa's presence in the Senate this week after months out of the public eye tipped the power balance in the chamber, helping install Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as senate president. Cayetano is the elder Duterte's former foreign minister and vice-presidential running mate.

The new majority in the 24-member Senate now include Dela Rosa and other allies of the Duterte family, leaving senators allied with Marcos in the minority.

The impeachment and the Senate power struggle play into the larger feud between the Duterte and Marcos families.

Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte won the 2022 elections by a landslide but their alliance unravelled spectacularly in the public eye as they pursued divergent political agendas.