Philippine Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters on Thursday that Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is no longer in the Senate building where he had been taking refuge fearing arrest.

Dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs,” faces charges of crimes against humanity, the same charges leveled against Duterte.

The announcement came a day after gunfire erupted at the Senate, causing chaos and panic. Dela Rosa had earlier appealed to supporters on social media to mobilize, claiming law enforcement agents were planning to arrest him.

The incident led to a heavy police presence and armed guards at the Senate, with protests outside. More than a dozen shots were fired after Marines were called in to assist.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. held an emergency meeting with government and security chiefs on Thursday. Police spokesperson Randulf Tuano said one person had been arrested following the shooting and investigations are ongoing.

Dela Rosa denies involvement in the illegal killings, but the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for him on Monday. Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague since March 2025. The ICC estimates that between 12,000 and 30,000 people were killed from 2016 to 2019 in the drug war.

Sources in Manila confirmed that dela Rosa fled the building around 2-3 a.m. His lawyer said he spoke to him late at night and believed he was still inside. Dela Rosa stated he would exhaust all remedies to block his transfer to the ICC.

Source: www.aljazeera.com