{"id":210634,"date":"2026-05-14T04:38:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gunshots-fired-in-standoff-at-philippine-senate-amid-push-to-arrest-top-politician-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T04:38:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:38:56","slug":"gunshots-fired-in-standoff-at-philippine-senate-amid-push-to-arrest-top-politician-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/gunshots-fired-in-standoff-at-philippine-senate-amid-push-to-arrest-top-politician-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunshots fired in standoff at Philippine Senate amid push to arrest top politician – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MANILA, Philippines \u2014 Gunshots broke out in chaotic scenes at the Philippine <\/a>Senate on Wednesday where troops had been deployed after a politician wanted by the International Criminal Court urged supporters to mobilize and thwart his imminent arrest.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.<\/a> called for calm and said no government personnel were involved \u2060in the incident.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
\u201cWe will get to the bottom of this,\u201d Marcos said in a video message. \u201cWas this encounter part of destabilization? We will need to know.\u201d
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a 64-year-old former police chief and the main enforcer of ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s bloody \u201cwar on drugs,\u201d <\/a>had hours earlier urged people to turn out to block his arrest and handover to the ICC.
Marcos said no instruction had been given to apprehend him.
The Hague-based court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant for dela \u2060Rosa, dated November, on charges of crimes against humanity, the same that 81-year-old Duterte \u200bis \u2060accused of as he awaits trial in the ICC following his transfer last year.
Dela Rosa, who officials said was safe, has denied involvement in any illegal killings in the anti-drugs crackdown during Duterte\u2019s 2016-2022 presidency.
\u201cI am appealing to you, I hope you \u200bcan \u2060help me. Do not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague,\u201d he said in a video on Facebook from his Senate office, where he has taken refuge since Monday when placed under legislative protection.
Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza said people he believed to be agents of the justice ministry\u2019s National Bureau of Investigation had attempted to enter the Senate and fired shots as they retreated.
But NBI Director Melvin Matibag told GMA News that \u200bno agents had \u2060been deployed.
Video shows a Philippine senator being chased by police
The Senate was heavily \u200cguarded throughout Wednesday, with security staff wearing flak jackets and carrying rifles and police deployed as protesters gathered, some calling for the arrest of dela Rosa, better known as \u201cBato,\u201d or \u201crock.\u201d
Moments before the gunshots, more than 10 marines in camouflage fatigues carrying assault rifles were seen arriving at the building, a detachment the military said had been requested by the Senate.
Dela Rosa, who returned to the Senate on Monday \u2060for the first time since disappearing from public view in November, has appealed to Marcos not to hand him over to the ICC.
The senator has filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court urging it to block any attempt to transfer him to The Hague. The court on Wednesday gave all parties 72 hours to respond.
Dela Rosa was Duterte\u2019s top lieutenant overseeing a fierce crackdown during which thousands of alleged drug dealers were slain. Rights groups accused police of systematic murders and cover-ups in a campaign that sought the \u201cneutralisztion of illegal drug personalities nationwide.\u201d
Police reject the allegations and say the more than 6,000 killed in anti-drugs operations were all armed and had resisted arrest.
Activists say the real death toll may never be known, with users and small-time peddlers gunned down almost daily in mysterious slumland killings blamed on vigilantes and turf wars.
Dela Rosa says he is willing to be tried in \u200ba Philippine court and insists any transfer to the ICC would be illegal, as the country is no longer a signatory to the \u200cRome Statute.
The mercurial Duterte, who was elected on promises to \u2060kill thousands of drug pushers and criminals, withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2018, citing its prosecutor\u2019s \u201cbaseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks\u201d after \u2060a preliminary examination of the crackdown was launched.
The ICC says crimes committed while a country was a member are under its jurisdiction. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment on \u200cWednesday\u2019s standoff.
Duterte is set to become the \u200bfirst Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, \u200ca court he repeatedly dared to pursue him in frequent profanity-laden speeches, \u200bduring which he said he was ready to \u201crot in jail\u201d to protect his people from the drugs scourge.
He maintains his innocence. The mercurial Duterte, who was elected on promises to \u2060kill thousands of drug pushers and criminals, withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2018, citing its prosecutor\u2019s \u201cbaseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks\u201d after \u2060a preliminary examination of the crackdown was launched.
The ICC says crimes committed while a country was a member are under its jurisdiction. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment on \u200cWednesday\u2019s standoff.
Duterte is set to become the \u200bfirst Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, \u200ca court he repeatedly dared to pursue him in frequent profanity-laden speeches, \u200bduring which he said he was ready to \u201crot in jail\u201d to protect his people from the drugs scourge.
He maintains his innocence.
Reuters
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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