Gunshots Fired in Standoff at Philippine Senate Over ICC Suspect

Gunshots broke out in chaotic scenes at the Philippine Senate ?on Wednesday where troops had been deployed after a politician wanted by the International Criminal Court urged supporters to mobilise and thwart his imminent arrest. President ?Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for calm and said no government personnel were involved in the incident. 

There were no immediate reports of casualties. "We will get to the bottom of this," Marcos said in a video message. "Was this encounter part of destabilisation? We will need to



know."

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, a 64-year-old former police chief and the main enforcer of ex-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody "war on drugs", had hours earlier urged people to turn ?out to block his arrest and handover to the ICC. Marcos said no instruction had been given to apprehend him.

The Hague-based court on Monday unsealed an arrest warrant ?for dela Rosa, dated November, on charges of crimes against humanity, the same that 81-year-old Duterte is accused of as he awaits trial in the ?ICC following his transfer last year.