{"id":11254,"date":"2026-05-13T15:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/11254\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:44:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:44:07","slug":"gunshots-fired-in-philippines-senate-as-politician-wanted-in-the-hague-remains-holed-up-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/11254\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunshots fired in Philippines senate as politician wanted in The Hague remains holed up \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gunshots have been fired in the Philippine <\/a>senate, as a senator who is wanted by the International Criminal Court<\/a> (ICC) remained holed up in the building to evade arrest.<\/p>\n

Ronald dela Rosa, a Filipino senator accused of crimes against humanity for his role in overseeing the former president Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s \u201cwar on drugs\u201d, has spent two nights in the country\u2019s senate in a standoff with the authorities.<\/p>\n

Late on Wednesday, after he claimed he faced imminent arrest, military personnel entered the senate building, some carrying assault rifles. Local media showed scenes of chaos and the sound of gunfire later rung out.<\/p>\n

It is unclear who fired the shots. The interior secretary, Jonvic Remulla, said the incident would be investigated. Referring to Dela Rosa by his nickname, he told media outside the building: \u201cI will not arrest Senator Bato. I am here to secure everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not know who is behind this,\u201d he said of the gunfire. \u201cBut we will find them.\u201d He added that there was security footage of the incident.<\/p>\n

Dela Rosa (64), who was the chief enforcer of Duterte\u2019s merciless anti-drugs crackdown, dramatically evaded arrest on Monday when he outran government agents who chased him through the senate\u2019s hallways and staircases. He managed to reach the building chamber, where the senate president, an ally of Duterte, offered him protective custody.<\/p>\n

\"PhilippinePhilippine troops exchange gunshots inside the senate of the Philippines. Photograph: Jam Sta Rosa\/AFP\/Getty Images \"PeoplePeople walk out of the senate of the Philippines after multiple gunshots sent\u00a0senators into hiding in their offices. Photograph: Jam Sta Rpsa\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Duterte was arrested last year in Manila and sent to the ICC, where he faces charges of crimes against humanity over the crackdowns, in which thousands were killed. The senate secretary, Mark Llandro Mendoza, told reporters there had not been any casualties reported. The situation was still being assessed after a number of law enforcers attempted to enter the building, he said.<\/p>\n

Dela Rosa had earlier called for his supporters to gather in front of the senate on Wednesday, telling a press conference: \u201cLet us not allow another Filipino to be taken to The Hague.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has remained in the senate since Monday\u2019s pursuit, which was captured on the building\u2019s CCTV. He had appealed to the military to peacefully oppose moves to send him to The Hague, and sang part of the Philippine military academy hymn in front of a media scrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not appealing for violent support. I am appealing for peaceful support,\u201d Dela Rosa told reporters, as he urged his \u201cfellow men in uniform\u201d to \u201cexpress their sentiment\u201d that Ferdinand Marcos Jr\u2019s government \u201cshould not hand me over to foreigners\u201d.<\/p>\n

As the chaotic scenes unfolded on Wednesday night, Alan Peter Cayetano, the senate president, posted a video on Facebook from inside the building, saying he was willing to meet anyone who wished to serve an arrest warrant. He instructed people to turn off the lights and stay low for their safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening, everyone is locked in their rooms now, we cannot go out. We cannot secure our other staff,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the senate of the Philippines,\u201d he added, appealing to law enforcement agencies for information. \u201cWhat is happening? Why are we under attack here?\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he and others were \u201cnot going to leave\u201d Dela Rosa and legal remedies to avoid his transfer to The Hague had not yet been exhausted. Dela Rosa has filed an emergency petition to the supreme court asking it to block any attempt to send him to the ICC. The court has given all parties to the petition 72 hours to respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard that allegedly there are NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) members who want to enter,\u201d Cayetano said.<\/p>\n

However, Melvin Matibag, the NBI\u2019s director, told local media he had not deployed any personnel to the senate. He said the gunfire should be investigated and those responsible arrested.<\/p>\n

More than 10 military personnel in camouflage fatigues were present, some carrying assault rifles, according to Reuters. The chief of the military\u2019s public affairs office, Xerxes Trinidad, told Reuters the senate had requested help to \u201cassist them in securing the facility\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cayetano later said he had spoken to Marcos Jr, the president, who had informed him that no government personnel had been involved in the incident.<\/p>\n

Marcos was once an ally of the vice-president, Sara Duterte, Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s daughter. However, the two politicians are now embroiled in a fierce battle, which intensified last year when her father was arrested.<\/p>\n

Dela Rosa is accused by the ICC of the crime against humanity of murder along with Duterte and other co-perpetrators. He did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

An arrest warrant accuses him of \u201cauthorising, condoning and promoting\u201d the killings, providing weapons, promising impunity and rewarding perpetrators, according to an ICC arrest warrant that was unsealed on Monday.<\/p>\n

Reports that Dela Rosa could face arrest first surfaced in November and he had been missing from the senate for months. However, he made a surprise appearance on Monday, when he turned up to back a successful attempt to install Cayetano, a staunch ally of the Duterte family, as senate president.<\/p>\n

The ICC, not to be confused with the UN\u2019s international court of justice, deals with accusations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity and is made up of 125 member states. – The Guardian. Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gunshots have been fired in the Philippine senate, as a senator who is wanted by the International Criminal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[276,4999,42],"class_list":{"0":"post-11254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-hague","8":"tag-international-criminal-court","9":"tag-philippines","10":"tag-the-hague"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}