Gunshots heard in Philippine Senate, says Senate president

By Kathleen Magramo, Lauren Kent, Jinky Jorgio, CNN

(CNN) — Gunshots have been heard in the Philippine Senate building, the Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano said on Wednesday, as a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court is holed up in the building to resist arrest.

It is unclear who fired the shots in the incident. No casualties have been reported, Senate Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza told reporters on Wednesday night.

“I don’t know what is happening. I do not know if I can keep my people safe here,” Cayetano said in a Facebook livestream from inside the Senate complex. “I’m willing to go out. I’m willing to face anyone who is going to serve the warrant … but do not do this.”

It comes after Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was captured on CCTV running from local agents through the halls of the Senate earlier on Monday. When local investigative unit officers failed to arrest the 64-year-old, having pursued him through the bowels of parliament, riot police surrounded the Senate compound.

Dela Rosa has not left the Senate compound since Monday.

Police have now entered the Senate building and ordered all reporters and other personnel to leave, local reporters told CNN. Senate security staff have put down the building’s steel door to lock themselves inside after reporters moved outside.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) accuse Dela Rosa of conspiring with Duterte in alleged crimes against humanity, during a brutal anti-drug campaign that killed thousands. On Monday, the ICC confirmed it had issued an arrest warrant for him, citing incidents in which 32 people were killed between 2016 to 2018.

On Wednesday night, the Philippines country’s Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Jonvic Remulla entered the Senate building, as Senate President Cayetano allowed him to go inside. Remulla told local media that all senators inside the building are safe and he is working to determine who fired the shots.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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