Gunshots fired in Philippines Senate as authorities try to arrest ex-police chief over murder charges
Gunfire rang out in the Philippines Senate on Wednesday.
It sparked chaos in the building where authorities had tried to arrest a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court in connection with a deadly government crackdown on drugs.
It was not immediately clear who fired the shots or why.
No one was hurt, officials said.
The gunfire erupted as Philippine authorities tried to arrest Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who enforced former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug efforts in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed from 2016 to 2018.
Allied senators took Dela Rosa into “protective custody” on Monday, when he reappeared after months of absence.
Several senators were still in the building after holding a session when the gunshots were heard by a throng of journalists, including two from The Associated Press. Armed security personnel, including military members, ran around with guns ready and later asked employees to leave as tensions started to ease.
Senate President Alan Cayetano briefly appeared before journalists in the Senate shortly after the shots were fired but could not provide details.
“The emotions are high here,” Cayetano said. “This is the Senate of the Philippines, and we are allegedly under attack.”
Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. later arrived with top police officials and said he was deployed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to secure the senators. He said he did not come to arrest dela Rosa, who remained in the building.
An investigation was underway, and security cameras would be reviewed to find out who was behind the gunfire and their intentions, Remulla said.
On Monday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa.
Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the national police force under Duterte.
The ICC had no immediate comment on the events in Manila.
