Senate President Alan Cayetano confirmed shots had been fired but offered no further details. "The emotions are high here," Cayetano told the AP. "This is the Senate of the Philippines, and we are allegedly under attack."
According to NBC News, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza identified the shooters as what he believed were operatives from the justice ministry's National Bureau of Investigation, saying they discharged their weapons while withdrawing from the building. NBI Director Melvin Matibag, however, told NBC News that the bureau had not sent any personnel to the scene.
Before the shooting, dela Rosa had put out a public call asking backers to come to the Senate building and help block what he described as his imminent arrest. "We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte," dela Rosa said in a Facebook $META post, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Supreme Court, responding to an emergency filing by dela Rosa aimed at halting his extradition to The Hague, issued an order Wednesday requiring all parties to submit their positions within 72 hours, according to NBC News. According to the Los Angeles Times, Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. came to the Senate following the incident, stating that his mission — ordered by the president — was to ensure the safety of the senators inside, and that taking dela Rosa into custody was not part of his assignment.
Under former President Rodrigo Duterte, dela Rosa led the national police and was the principal architect of an anti-drug campaign that left thousands dead. According to the Los Angeles Times, Duterte was taken into custody in March of last year, transferred to The Hague, and is currently held in the Netherlands pending an ICC trial on crimes against humanity charges.
