Philippine senator wanted by ICC evades arrest and flees senate

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity, slipped out of the senate building in Manila after a three-day standoff and an exchange of gunfire.

Dela Rosa, a former national police chief and enforcer of Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, had been in hiding for months. He appeared at the senate on Monday to support the election of Alan Peter Cayetano as senate president. When security agents tried to arrest him, he ran through hallways and stairwells, evaded them and was granted protective custody by Cayetano.

He spent the first night in the office of Senator Jinggoy Estrada. From inside the building he streamed live on Facebook, gave interviews and sang a military hymn to reporters. He appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not to turn him over to the ICC.

On Wednesday night he announced that arrest was imminent. Heavy security and protesters gathered outside. Inside, reporters heard drilling and then gunshots. Dela Rosa later told guards he was going to the toilet, left through a fire exit and drove away in an SUV with another Duterte-aligned senator.

Cayetano denied the shooting was staged and said the senate was under attack. Senate security fired first, officials later confirmed. Former senate president Vicente Sotto said he did not know what to make of the episode.

The Marcos government said it would respect a supreme court order giving it 72 hours to respond to Dela Rosa’s petition against his arrest. Political analysts said the failed operation made the government look weak and could hurt Marcos’s ratings, as happened when Duterte was arrested last year.

Dela Rosa’s whereabouts remain unknown. Analysts said he may stay out of reach as long as his allies, including Vice President Sara Duterte, hold power.