Gunshots heard at Philippine Senate as ICC arrest expected

Gunshots have been heard inside the Philippine Senate as tensions escalate over a planned arrest of a top senator.

Witnesses reported multiple shots on Wednesday, sending journalists and others scrambling for cover as armed personnel moved through the building.

What is happening at the Philippine parliament?

More than 10 soldiers in camouflage had earlier entered the complex, some carrying assault rifles, though it remained unclear who fired the shots or why troops were deployed.

The incident comes as Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a key figure in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, faces a possible arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Dela Rosa, who has been sheltering in his office since Monday, said his arrest was imminent and called on supporters to mobilize to block any attempt to transfer him to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.

Dela Rosa urged "my fellow men in uniform" and former classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, to "express their sentiment" that President Ferdinand Marcos's government "should not hand me over to foreigners."

Whay is Dela Rosa wanted by the ICC?

Dela Rosa was police chief in 2016-2018, during Duterte's first two years in office and acted as his chief drug war enforcer.

He is better known by his nickname "Bato," meaning "Rock." He denies involvement in ​illegal killing and
insists that a transfer to the ⁠ICC would be illegal, because the country is no longer a signatory.

Human rights monitors say the crackdown left thousands dead, many of them drug users and low-level narcotics sellers. 

On Monday, the Philippine lower house of parliament voted to advance impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president. Duterte himself is already in the Hague awaiting trial at the ICC.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC  in 2018 after its ⁠prosecutor announced a preliminary examination
into his anti-drugs ​campaign had begun. Alleged crimes committed while a country was a member of the ICC are, according to the court, under its jurisdiction.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery