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Current Affairs

Philippine lawmaker holes up in Senate as ICC confirms drug war warrant

A sitting Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war took refuge inside the Senate…

By Samantha Johnson / May 11, 2026

A sitting Philippine senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war took refuge inside the Senate on Monday to avoid arrest by government agents.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, the country’s one-time police chief, was under the Senate’s protection “in accordance with our rules and Philippine laws”, newly elected Senate President and Duterte ally Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters.

“We will allow an arrest under the condition that it is a Philippine court,” he added.

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The Senate was on “lockdown”, officers told AFP journalists who saw barbed wire and riot police surrounding the compound’s closed gates.

Only hours earlier, Dela Rosa – not seen publicly since November – had appeared at the Senate to cast a vote for Cayetano, a move that came just as members of the House of Representatives were impeaching Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Philippine lawmakers vote on the impeachment complaint against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Metro Manila on Monday. Photo: TNS
Philippine lawmakers vote on the impeachment complaint against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Metro Manila on Monday. Photo: TNS

Video released by the Senate showed Dela Rosa being chased through the halls of the upper chamber, pursued by members of the National Bureau of Investigation.

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