Singapore: Gunfire broke out in the Philippines’ Senate on Wednesday, setting off pandemonium in the building and compelling the chamber’s sheltering president to warn people to turn off the lights and stay low.
Details remain scarce, but the confrontation comes days after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) failed in its attempt to arrest Ronald Dela Rosa, a high-profile senator accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of historical crimes.
Dela Rosa has been holed up in the protective custody of the senate, which is led by an ally, since the ICC unsealed its arrest warrant against him on Monday.
The gunfire on Wednesday erupted shortly before 8pm local time (10pm AEST). Footage from journalists inside the buildings captured the sounds of rapid, close-range gunfire and screaming members of the press.
“It’s f—ed up man – we were in the middle of a shootout,” one of the journalists told this masthead.
More footage shows heavily armed members of the military entering the building to take control of the situation.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for calm and said government forces were not responsible.
Dela Rosa was once the chief of police for former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who was arrested in March last year and sent to the Netherlands to face charges in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity stemming from his brutal “war on drugs”.
The ICC has now accused Dela Rosa – popularly known as Bato, which means rock in Tagalog – as being one of its architects.
Extraordinary CCTV footage from the complex on Monday showed Dela Rosa and staff running through hallways and up fire escapes to escape the arresting NBI officers.
Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, who had just been elected with the help of Dela Rosa, said at the time that his colleague was safe in the building and would not be given up.
On Wednesday night, Cayetano took to Facebook as events unfolded, saying “This is the Senate of the Philippines. We are allegedly under the attack … turn off the lights, stay low … follow the protocols.”
As the situation cooled, he posted to social media again to say Dela Rosa was safe in the building and that authorities would respect the Supreme Court’s order from earlier in the day giving the sides three days to comment on the merits of the senator’s arrest.
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Zach Hope is South-East Asia correspondent. He is a former reporter at the Brisbane Times.Connect via email.
