Gunshots in the Philippine Senate where he is taking refuge "the architect" of Duterte’s war on drugs

Several gunshots created astonishment without causing injuries on Wednesday evening in the Philippine Senate, where the main person responsible for the fight against drugs under former President Rodrigo Duterte, wanted by the International Criminal Court, took refuge, AFP journalists noted.

At least five shots rang out, a few minutes after the entry of several Filipino soldiers armed with rifles and bulletproof vests, these journalists noted.

According to Interior Minister Juanito Victor Remulla, no one was injured, the perpetrators of the shots are still being sought and Senator Ronald Dela Rosa is “safe” on site. “We assured him that no arrest warrant would be executed,” added the minister.

Ronald Dela Rosa, former police chief, has been taking refuge in the Upper House for three days to escape arrest, while the government is trying to implement an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is looking for him for crimes against humanity.

According to President Ferdinand Marcos, the government forces there did not use their weapons and the agents who tried to arrest Mr. Dela Rosa were ordered to withdraw after a decision by the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday ordered the government to explain its actions.

We must “tell all our fellow citizens to remain calm and we will shed light on this matter,” declared Mr. Marcos in a speech broadcast on state television. “We will determine who is behind this unrest.”

Just after the shots, the President of the Senate Alan Peter Cayetano, an ally of Mr. Dela Rosa, affirmed that all the senators who could had left to “lock themselves in their respective offices. We cannot go out”, he added in a video broadcast live on his Facebook page.

Mr. Dela Rosa had previously asked the Supreme Court and the army to prevent the authorities from arresting and extraditing him to the Netherlands.

Better known by his nickname “Bato”, Mr. Dela Rosa was police chief between 2016 and 2018, during the first two years of former President Rodrigo Duterte in power.

He was named by the ICC as a co-perpetrator in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs. This left thousands dead, many of whom were drug users and small-time traffickers, according to human rights organizations.

– “Comrades in uniform” –

Ronald Dela Rosa, who had not been seen since November, reappeared in public on Monday to participate in an unexpected vote which allowed Mr. Duterte’s supporters to take control of the Senate.

The new Senate leadership had declared that it would only authorize the arrest of Mr. Dela Rosa if it was ordered by a Philippine court.

On Wednesday, Mr. Dela Rosa had urged his “comrades in uniform” and his former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, which forms the majority of the officer corps of the armed forces, to “make their voices heard” so that the government of President Ferdinand Marcos does not “hand him over to foreigners.”

“I am not calling for violent support. I am calling for peaceful support,” he told the press.

Before the shooting, around 500 anti-riot police had faced some 250 demonstrators who were demanding the arrest and surrender to the ICC of the man they described as the “architect” of Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

Senator Vicente Sotto reported water bottles thrown by demonstrators at his car as he left the Senate complex alone.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, 2025 and is currently detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague.

The ICC, which sits in The Hague, last month confirmed the charge of crimes against humanity against Mr. Duterte, committed during his “war on drugs”. Prosecutors accuse him of being involved in at least 76 murders linked to this “war”.