A dramatic escape worthy of a Hollywood thriller played out in the Philippines this week, as a senator wanted for war crimes managed to slip away during a chaotic gunfight at the nation’s capitol building.
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who faces charges from the International Criminal Court related to the Philippines’ controversial anti-drug campaign, vanished into the Manila darkness following an extraordinary armed confrontation Wednesday night at the Senate complex where he had been hiding for days.
The violent clash pitted two competing government agencies against each other: Senate security forces led by an official with connections to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s political faction, and National Bureau of Investigation agents working under an appointee of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
This marked the second time in seven days that dela Rosa had successfully evaded NBI officers attempting to serve his arrest warrant.
The unfolding political crisis has divided the island nation for months, creating a bitter rivalry between the Marcos administration and supporters of Vice-President Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president, as international prosecutors seek justice for a drug enforcement operation that claimed thousands of lives.
The 64-year-old former police commander has shown no remorse for his involvement in the anti-narcotics efforts and has previously stated he would gladly join Duterte for trial proceedings in The Hague, where the ex-president faces accusations of crimes against humanity.
Dela Rosa emerged from months in hiding Monday to participate in a critical Senate leadership vote designed to protect the vice-president from an upcoming impeachment proceeding.
Government officials, who deny ordering forces to apprehend dela Rosa during Wednesday’s violence, are now investigating whether the shooting incident was orchestrated to facilitate his getaway. No injuries were reported.
“Duterte told me they would find it very hard to take Bato,” former attorney Nicholas Kaufman told Reuters, using the senator’s Filipino nickname meaning “rock” and noting his continued backing among security personnel. “Gunshots in a national assembly are unheard of. It points to a deep crisis in the Philippines linked to the ICC issue.”
The dramatic events began Wednesday afternoon when word spread that NBI agents were approaching the building.
The Senate chamber had recently changed hands: dela Rosa’s unexpected Monday appearance enabled a pro-Duterte group of lawmakers to gain control and install Alan Peter Cayetano as the new president.
Cayetano admitted he had personally driven his fugitive colleague to the building. Security camera recordings show the senator stumbling up stairs while NBI officers gave chase.
He shoved a female agent, according to former senator Antonio Trillanes, who witnessed the events and accompanied the NBI team serving the warrant. Trillanes explained that the NBI was assigned the arrest duty due to dela Rosa’s continuing sway over police forces.
A visibly nervous dela Rosa went live on Facebook, calling on supporters including “fellow men in uniform” to rally to his aid, warning that government agents were preparing to detain him. “Let us not allow another Filipino to be taken to The Hague,” he declared.
Around 7 p.m., Senate security chief Mao Aplasca, a retired police general and longtime friend of dela Rosa, told media his security team was “going to arrest someone” and the facility would enter “total lockdown.”
Aplasca, who had attended military academy with dela Rosa and worked under him during the drug war, later clarified he meant arresting NBI personnel.
The newly installed Senate leadership had appointed Aplasca as one of their first official acts, and he had previously prevented NBI agents from accessing the Senate during an earlier arrest attempt, Trillanes reported.
As the lockdown commenced Wednesday, Aplasca and Senate security personnel began donning protective gear. They weren’t the only armed presence: Reuters journalists observed police officers and Philippine marines carrying rifles and wearing protective helmets, summoned by Aplasca according to military officials.
Aplasca guided the armed group to an entrance of an adjacent building housing the Government Service Insurance System headquarters.
Ten minutes afterward, a barrage of gunshots rang out – dozens of rounds fired, Aplasca later claimed, after NBI agents pointed their weapons.
His team fired back with 27 “warning” rounds, he stated.
Media personnel and Senate employees scrambled for safety, including Reuters correspondents, as Senate security cut the hallway lighting while some continued live broadcasts.
“The Senate is under attack! Pls help us,” dela Rosa wrote on Facebook.
Multiple floors higher, despite the chaos below, House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil succeeded in submitting impeachment documents, setting the stage for the vice-president’s trial. She disputes allegations of misappropriating public money, accumulating unexplained assets, and making threats against Marcos, the first lady, and a former House Speaker.
By 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the confrontation had ended. The police chief and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla arrived and journalists were told to leave.
Remulla said dela Rosa was “resting” in his office.
Senate security logs provided by Cayetano indicated he departed the building around 2:30 a.m. without being stopped by guards.
The NBI has offered a different account, claiming it deployed agents to the neighboring GSIS insurance facility at that organization’s request but made no attempt to enter the Senate. The GSIS has not issued any statement.
Aplasca has been placed on six-month suspension pending an official investigation. He has not responded to requests for comment.
Former senator Trillanes argued the incident demonstrated how Duterte’s supporters could “control or abuse the powers of the Senate to provide a sanctuary to one international fugitive” and strengthens the case for trying drug war cases in international courts.
The situation is “very hard to explain” and “quite embarrassing for the institutions of governance in a country,” said Dindo Manhit, founder of local research organization the Stratbase Institute for Strategic and International Studies.
The saga surrounding dela Rosa continues: Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida announced Friday that the Philippines would “definitely” honor the ICC’s arrest request and prevent him from leaving the country. Dela Rosa has submitted an emergency petition to the Supreme Court challenging the ICC’s authority.
