Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called an emergency meeting of senior government and security officials on Thursday after gunfire erupted inside the Senate building in Manila, deepening an escalating political crisis centred on Senator Ronald dela Rosa.
The lawmaker at the centre of the crisis is Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the former national police chief and chief enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs”. Dela Rosa is wanted internationally on charges of crimes against humanity - the same allegations facing Duterte.
Following his controversial extradition last year, Duterte is set to become the first former Asian head of state to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Tensions escalated late on Wednesday when gunfire rang out inside the heavily guarded Senate building, prompting staff, journalists and politicians to take cover. The shooting came hours after dela Rosa, widely known by his nickname “Bato” or “Rock”, appealed on social media for supporters to mobilise.
He claimed armed law enforcement officers were on their way to remove him from the Senate, where he had taken refuge earlier in the week.
The incident triggered confusion both inside and outside the complex. Riot police and armed guards surrounded the Senate perimeter as protests broke out nearby. Witnesses said more than a dozen shots were fired inside the building shortly after marine units were deployed to reinforce security.
As Marcos met security officials on Thursday morning, national police spokesperson Randulf Tuano confirmed at least one person had been detained and that a forensic investigation was under way.
Investigators reportedly recovered bullet casings, assault rifle magazines and other tactical equipment from the Senate floor.
“The person has provided names, but these still need confirmation,” Tuano told DZBB radio, declining to say whether the suspect was linked to state forces or private security.
It remained unclear on Thursday who fired the shots or whether dela Rosa was still inside the Senate building.
His lawyer, Jimmy Bondoc, said he had spoken to the senator overnight and believed he remained in his office suite.
“As his lawyer, I asked him if you have plans to leave, he said none,” Bondoc told reporters outside the Senate.
Throughout the crisis, Marcos and several government agencies insisted no domestic arrest order had been issued against dela Rosa and denied that any state team had been sent to remove him.
The government also gave no formal explanation for the identities or motives of the individuals officials said tried to enter the Senate building on Wednesday night.
In an interview aired by DZBB on Thursday, dela Rosa vowed to “exhaust all available remedies” to block any transfer to the ICC.
He said learning about Duterte’s detention conditions in The Hague had changed his willingness to face proceedings there himself. It remains unclear when the interview was recorded.
Dela Rosa has repeatedly denied involvement in illegal extrajudicial killings.
“Yes, things changed. It turns out it is not that easy to visit him,” dela Rosa said, referring to Duterte. “If we were co-detainees, there’s no assurance we would be placed in the same cell or even in the same facility.”
The crisis comes days after the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter and Marcos’s former running mate.
Sara Duterte, currently in The Hague visiting her father, is fighting an impeachment trial in the Senate that could damage her expected 2028 presidential bid.
“What we are seeing now is the administration using all government resources to demolish political opposition or individuals who do not follow, agree with, or support (Marcos),” she said in comments released by her press office in Manila.
She said she had not spoken to dela Rosa since before the shooting but alleged he was about to become the target of a state-sponsored “extraordinary rendition”, comparing the attempted operation to what she described as her father’s “illegal abduction” and transfer to the ICC last year.
“That is how the world saw it then. And that is also what they are trying to do now to Senator Bato dela Rosa,” she said.
The Hague-based court unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa on Monday, although the document was dated November 2025.
In response, dela Rosa filed an emergency appeal with the Philippine Supreme Court seeking to block any transfer to ICC custody. He argues the court no longer has jurisdiction after the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2018 under Duterte’s orders.
The ICC maintains it still has authority to investigate and prosecute crimes allegedly committed before the country’s withdrawal took effect.
Dela Rosa served as one of Duterte’s closest allies during his presidency and oversaw the nationwide anti-drugs campaign in which thousands of alleged dealers and users were killed.
International human rights groups have long accused Philippine police under dela Rosa’s leadership of carrying out systematic killings and covering them up.
The Philippine National Police rejects those allegations, saying the more than 6,000 people killed during official “Project Double Barrel” operations were armed and resisted arrest.
Human rights activists dispute that account, arguing the true death toll may never be known. They say thousands of suspected drug users and small-time dealers were killed in unexplained slum shootings that police attributed to vigilantes and gang violence.
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