Gunshots Rang Out Inside a Country’s Parliament as Police Tried to Arrest a Senator Wanted for Crimes Against Humanity — The Philippines Is in Crisis

It was the kind of scene that belongs in a political thriller. On Wednesday evening, more than a dozen gunshots rang out inside the Philippine Senate building in Pasay City, Metro Manila, as police and military personnel moved in to try to arrest a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Journalists ran for cover. Senate staff were ordered to evacuate. The Senate President went live on Facebook, saying, “I don’t know what is happening. I do not know if I can keep my people safe here.”

The man at the center of the chaos is Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, 64 — the former national police chief who served as the chief enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody and controversial “war on drugs.” The ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa on Monday, charging him with crimes against humanity in connection with a crackdown in which, according to official police data, more than 6,000 people were killed. Thousands more were shot in what were described as vigilante killings. Human rights groups have long argued the true death toll was far higher, with some estimates running well above 12,000.

Dela Rosa, widely known by his nickname “Bato” — meaning “rock” in Filipino — served as police chief when Duterte was still mayor of Davao City, where the anti-drug tactic known as “oplan tokhang” was first developed. The practice involved police officers visiting suspected drug users and dealers at their homes, pressuring them to surrender, and then — according to the ICC’s allegations — executing those who surrendered or fled. When Duterte became president in 2016 and dela Rosa was elevated to national police chief, the tactic went national. Police say those killed resisted arrest. The ICC alleges systematic, organized murder.

Dela Rosa has denied any involvement in illegal killings. Since the ICC warrant was unsealed Monday, he has not left the Senate compound, seeking a temporary restraining order from the Philippine Supreme Court. Fellow senators, including Senate President Alan Cayetano, have provided him with what they are calling “protective custody” — a decision that puts the legislature in direct conflict with international criminal law and the executive branch’s obligation to honor ICC warrants.

On Wednesday, the situation exploded. Unidentified armed men tried to enter the second floor of the Senate building. A member of the Senate’s Sergeant-at-Arms office fired a warning shot. The armed men retreated, firing shots into the air as they left. About 15 shots in total were heard. No one was reported hurt. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appeared on television asking the public to stay calm and insisted the shots were not fired by government personnel. The Interior Secretary personally went to the Senate to supervise the situation, but said he was not there to arrest dela Rosa.

The backdrop makes this even more complex. Duterte himself was arrested last year and is currently in detention in The Hague, awaiting trial for the same crimes against humanity charges. He was the first sitting or former head of state from Asia to be arrested by the ICC. Dela Rosa warned this week: “We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte.” His message to Marcos on television was pointed: “Mr. President, you may one day face a situation like this. You may also encounter problems, and then you will understand, you will feel what I am feeling right now.”

Whether the Philippine government will ultimately hand dela Rosa over to the ICC — as it did with Duterte — or whether the Senate will successfully shield him from arrest remains unresolved. What is settled is that the scene of gunfire inside a legislature is a vivid illustration of how far a political crisis has traveled since a drug war that ended thousands of lives began in a city in southern Philippines more than two decades ago.