The government denies any intent to arrest the senator. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared shortly after the shooting that "no soldiers, military personnel, or agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) entered the Senate." Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Jonvic Remulla added: "We are here to secure the building, not to arrest Senator Dela Rosa." The Manila Times ↗ Dela Rosa currently faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for murder as a crime against humanity, which the court in The Hague unsealed on May 11. The Washington Post ↗
The shooting at the Senate is just one of three simultaneous crises that have struck the Duterte dynasty this week. On that same Monday, May 11, the House of Representatives approved a second impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president's eldest daughter. And at the same time, a leadership change took place in the Senate: pro-Duterte lawmakers removed Senate President Vicente Sotto and replaced him with Alan Peter Cayetano, a close ally of the family. The Diplomat ↗
Shooting Amid a Standoff
According to Al Jazeera, the shots were fired in Manila on Wednesday evening — minutes after more than ten armed men in camouflage uniforms entered the building. Based on publicly available information, it is not clear who was shooting, and no injuries were immediately reported. Al Jazeera ↗Shortly before the shooting, Dela Rosa, via a Facebook livestream, urged supporters to come to the Senate: "I appeal to you. I hope you will help me." In a separate statement, he added: "They want to take me to The Hague. Did I become chief of the Philippine National Police to be treated like this?" Asia Times ↗ Earlier that Wednesday morning, he had publicly requested protection from the military and called on former colleagues in uniformed services for support. He himself maintains that he is not calling for violence. Rappler ↗
Dela Rosa has been physically inaccessible inside parliament since Monday, when he came to the building to vote during the Senate leadership change. NBI agents attempted to detain him directly in the hallway, but according to Senate security footage, Dela Rosa escaped them, and Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano locked the doors behind him. According to The Guardian, Cayetano stated that "Senator Bato will be under the protection of the law and of the Senate, in accordance with our rules and Philippine law." The Guardian ↗
"Bato" — a Former Police General
Sixty-four-year-old Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa is a former police general. He was born in the town of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur province, and earned the nickname "Bato" — meaning "stone" in Cebuano — during his first posting in Davao City. The Guardian ↗He served as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from July 1, 2016, to April 19, 2018 — precisely the months during which the ICC documented the killings for which he is now being prosecuted. Immediately after taking office, he signed Memorandum 16-2016, titled "Project Double Barrel," which formalized the nationwide drug campaign. On the ground, police carried it out through Operation Tokhang — a word combining the Cebuano terms "tuktok" (to knock) and "hangyo" (to persuade): police went door to door urging people suspected of using or selling drugs to surrender to the authorities. The ICC now alleges that at least part of these operations led to the systematic killing of suspects. The Washington Post ↗
The court considers him an "indirect co-perpetrator" of murder as a crime against humanity. The factual sample on which the court based the arrest warrant includes 32 killings between July 2016 and April 2018 — a small sample out of thousands of victims. Human rights organizations estimate the total number at between 12,000 and 30,000, while official police statistics put the number at approximately 6,250 deaths in drug operations through 2022. Human Rights Watch ↗
In 2019, Dela Rosa became a senator, and in 2025 he successfully defended his seat — finishing third with more than 20 million votes. In the Senate, he chairs the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
Three Crises in One Week
The shooting at the Senate is only the most visible part of the crisis that has struck the Duterte dynasty this week.On Monday, May 11, the House of Representatives approved a second impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte by a vote of 257 to 25. Sara thereby became the first senior Philippine constitutional officeholder to face impeachment twice. She was first charged in February 2025, but the Supreme Court dismissed the case in July 2025 on constitutional grounds. The current charges include misuse of 612.5 million pesos ($10 million) from the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, unexplained wealth, and — among the most serious — an alleged plot to assassinate President Marcos, his wife, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Time ↗ The Senate will try her — conviction requires a two-thirds majority, while blocking conviction requires only nine votes out of the full 24-senator chamber.
That same Monday, the ICC unsealed the arrest warrant against Dela Rosa, which the court had actually issued on November 6, 2025, and kept under seal. The Washington Post ↗
And the third development: pro-Duterte senators, at the same time, removed Senate President Vicente Sotto III and replaced him with Cayetano, who is close to the Duterte family. This is precisely why Dela Rosa came to the Senate on Monday — to vote in this leadership change. For a Senate leaning toward the Dutertes, Dela Rosa's vote is arithmetically valuable today: during the impeachment trial of Sara, it must maintain a tight majority loyal to the family, which the loss of Dela Rosa could disrupt.
Marcos vs. Duterte: An Alliance That Turned
Philippine politics today is shaped by a conflict between two dynasties. Before the 2022 presidential election, the Marcos and Duterte families joined forces: Ferdinand Marcos Jr. won the highest office, while Sara Duterte became vice president. According to an analysis by Asia Times, the alliance was meant primarily to shield Rodrigo Duterte from international criminal prosecution. Asia Times ↗However, Marcos gradually turned away from the Dutertes. In March 2025, his government detained Rodrigo Duterte and allowed his transfer to the ICC. Duterte has been in the custody of the court in The Hague ever since, and is among the highest-ranking Asian politicians ever brought before ICC judges.
The Philippine Senate is currently controlled by Duterte allies, and on Wednesday, state security forces under the executive branch approached Dela Rosa. However, the government denies that this was an attempt to arrest the senator. The entry of armed men into a parliamentary building is a constitutionally sensitive situation in a parliamentary democracy — especially when shots were fired upon their arrival. NPR ↗
The Philippines Withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019
Dela Rosa's legal argument is that the ICC lacks jurisdiction and that domestic Philippine authorities cannot arrest him until the Supreme Court rules on the matter. His lawyers have already filed a petition seeking to halt any arrest or transfer. Asia Times ↗The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in March 2019 — a decision signed by Duterte himself in response to the ICC's investigation into the drug war. However, the court maintains that it has jurisdiction over acts committed while the country was still a member, i.e., until 2019. The acts attributed to Dela Rosa by the ICC are dated by the court between July 2016 and April 2018 — within the period of membership. The transfer of Rodrigo Duterte in March 2025 showed that the Marcos government is, under certain circumstances, willing to cooperate with the ICC.
The parallel with Putin's ICC arrest warrant from March 2023 is only partial. Russia never ratified the Rome Statute. In Putin's case, the ICC does not rely on jurisdiction over the Russian Federation, but on territorial jurisdiction via Ukraine: Kyiv, although also not a signatory to the court, accepted its jurisdiction under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute for acts committed on its own territory. ICC press release ↗ The Philippine situation rests on a different basis: Manila withdrew from the court, but remains accountable before it for acts committed prior to its departure.
What This Means for Manila — and for The Hague
The situation in the Senate is a constitutional test for the Philippines. The country has a president helping the ICC prosecute his political rival, and a Senate directly shielding a second accused individual against that effort. If armed forces begin acting without the clear consent of Senate leadership, questions about civilian control of the military will arise. Conversely, if the Senate keeps Dela Rosa out of reach of state authorities, the Marcos government will face questions about whether it can fulfill its obligations to the ICC.In the background of the whole drama, it remains open whether and when Manila will hand over Dela Rosa to the court in The Hague. Marcos has already once allowed the extradition of a former ally to the ICC. In Dela Rosa's case, however, the situation is politically more sensitive, since he is a sitting senator. The scope of parliamentary immunity in the face of an ICC arrest warrant is at the heart of today's legal dispute. The question of whether international law can reach sitting lawmakers, or whether the state can shield them through parliamentary procedure, is being tested right now, in front of the cameras.
What HotInfo Is Watching
- The Philippine Supreme Court's ruling on how to proceed with the ICC warrant in the Dela Rosa case
- The position of the armed forces and the NBI after Marcos's denial — a stalemate or a second intervention
- President Marcos's first public comment specifically on the Dela Rosa case
- The start of Rodrigo Duterte's main trial in The Hague — the ICC date
- Reactions from governments that dispute ICC rulings (Hungary, Slovakia)
- Cayetano's position as Senate president during Sara's trial (whether his party keeps him there)
- The investigation into the May 13 shooting in the Senate — identifying the shooter
- The start of the Senate trial on the impeachment of Sara Duterte (targeted for the end of June)→ Historisches Verfahren startet: Impeachment-Prozess gegen philippinische Vizepr…6.7.: impeachment/senátny proces proti viceprezidentke Sare Duterte sa začal (Die Zeit/dpa #1166199)
