Gunshots, Lockdown Rock Senate Amid Bato ICC Tension
Seven gunshots were heard at the Senate during a lockdown connected to tension over Sen. Bato Dela Rosa and the ICC warrant issue.
A tense night at the Philippine Senate turned chaotic after seven gunshots were heard inside the Senate premises on Wednesday evening, May 13, as the building was placed under lockdown amid talk of an arrest.
According to GMA News, acting Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Mao Aplasca announced around 7:30 p.m. that authorities would “arrest somebody,” though he did not identify the subject. The Senate then shifted from an elevated alert level to a lockdown, with roll-up doors closed and security personnel seen in full battle gear and bulletproof vests.
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who is under Senate protective custody because of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant tied to the Duterte administration’s drug war killings, was seen with staff boarding an elevator after coming from Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano’s office. Around the same time, Senate security said it received information that unknown persons were allegedly trying to enter the building from the GSIS side.
Cayetano later confirmed in a Facebook livestream that shots had been fired while senators were in caucus, but said it was still unclear who fired them. Several senators appealed for help or posted updates from inside the building, while Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla later said Dela Rosa was safe and that authorities were sweeping the Senate premises.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stressed that there was no instruction to arrest Dela Rosa, while Remulla said there was no arrest warrant to be served that night. Source: GMA News Online
