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A protester carries a slogan with a photo of Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa crying during a rally outside the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aaron Favila)<\/p>\n A protester carries a slogan with a photo of Philippine Senator Ronald dela Rosa crying during a rally outside the Philippine Senate in Pasay, Philippines on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Aaron Favila)<\/p>\n
THE HAGUE, Netherlands \u2014 Efforts to arrest a Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court on a charge of murder as a crime against humanity led to a burst of gunfire Wednesday and a standoff in the Senate building.<\/p>\n
No one was hurt during the tense scene in Manila. It came two days after the court based in The Hague unsealed an arrest warrant for Ronald Marapon dela Rosa, who served as national police chief under former President Rodrigo Duterte and helped carry out his anti-drug crackdowns in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.<\/p>\n
Issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of no fewer than 32 people between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the police force.<\/p>\n
READ: Bato dela Rosa pushes TRO bid after latest disappearing act<\/a><\/p>\n Dela Rosa, 64, has vowed to fight the ICC arrest order and said he would seek all legal remedies.<\/p>\n The ICC had no immediate comment on the events in Manila.<\/p>\n The Philippines quits the ICC<\/p>\n The Philippines left the court in 2019 after telling the United Nations it was doing so following then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda\u2019s announcement that she was opening a preliminary probe into allegations of extrajudicial killings under Duterte\u2019s anti-drug campaign.<\/p>\n The country hasn\u2019t rejoined the ICC under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022. But the Marcos administration said it would cooperate if the ICC asked international police to take Duterte into custody through a so-called red notice \u2014 a request for law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and temporarily arrest a suspect. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear if such a notice was issued for dela Rosa.<\/p>\n READ: No obstruction of justice, Cayetano says, after Bato flees from Senate<\/a><\/p>\n Duterte was arrested last year and sent to The Hague to faces charges of crimes against humanity linked to the deadly drug crackdown. He remains jailed there awaiting trial.<\/p>\n Judges last year rejected a request from Duterte\u2019s legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court didn\u2019t have jurisdiction because the Philippines had withdrawn from the court. Countries can\u2019t \u201cabuse\u201d their right to withdraw from the Rome Statute \u201cby shielding persons from justice in relation to alleged crimes that are already under consideration,\u201d the ruling said.<\/p>\n The ICC in a nutshell<\/p>\n The court was set up in 2002 and aims to hold leaders and senior officials accountable for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. It has 125 member states, but three major global powers \u2014 the United States, Russia and China \u2014 are not members. Ukraine officially joined the court in January 2025.<\/p>\n