The Philippine Senate is in lockdown with military personnel seen entering the building where a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court had sought refuge.

Rounds of gunfire have been heard – it’s not clear who fired the shots. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said earlier he believed his arrest was imminent and urged Filipinos to prevent it. His whereabouts are currently unclear.

He is accused by the ICC of killing dozens of people when he was police chief during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, in which thousands of alleged dealers were shot and killed. Duterte has been held at The Hague since March 2025.

TV footage showed police commandos in fatigues entering the Senate building in Manila early on Wednesday evening, with anti-riot policemen with shields and helmets surrounding the perimeter.

Protesters outside the Senate demanded Dela Rosa’s detention, calling for him to be sent to stand trial with Duterte.

His lawyers have appealed to the Supreme Court to block his extradition.

Duterte has refused to recognise the ICC proceedings, arguing that during his presidency in 2019 the Philippines had pulled out of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding agreement.

But last month, judges in the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber rejected that argument on the grounds that the alleged crimes had happened between 2011 and 2019 – while the Philippines was still a member of the ICC – paving the way for Duterte to stand trial.

Ronaldo Rosa seeks Senate refuge

The Filipino senator who oversaw former president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs had taken refuge inside the country’s Senate, hours before the International Criminal Court unsealed a warrant for his arrest.

Ronald Dela Rosa was pictured fleeing into the Senate on Monday as officers chased after him. He narrowly escaped and was placed under protective custody.

Police later said they would not arrest him while he was in custody of the Senate.

Dela Rosa is accused of the killing of at least 32 people between 2016 and 2018, as an “indirect co-perpetrator” in Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign, in which thousands of alleged drug dealers were shot and killed.

Former president Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague since his arrest in March 2025.

Security camera footage played to lawmakers on Monday showed National Bureau of Investigation agents chasing Dela Rosa up flights of stairs and a corridor in the Senate building after he arrived.

An ensuing standoff ended hours later with the chief of the National Bureau of Investigation telling reporters that they would not arrest Dela Rosa while he was in the custody of the Senate.

Dela Rosa has said that he would remain within the Senate’s premises and “do everything” to avoid being taken to the Hague.