On Monday (11 May), Philippine senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa dashed through the hallways of the Senate building in Pasay City, Metro Manila, to evade his arrest by personnel from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The officers were there to enforce a warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with his role in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Source: Rappler on YouTube
It was Dela Rosa’s first time appearing in the Senate since he went into hiding in Nov 2025, around the time ICC issued his secret arrest warrant, Inquirer reported.
CCTV footage shared by the Senate showed dela Rosa arriving at 3.10pm, after the Plenary Session had begun.
Upon entering the building, the Senator was seen running alongside other people as NBI agents dressed in black chased them through the hallways.
At one point, dela Rosa even fell on the stairs but got up and continued running towards the session hall on the second floor.
Source: Rappler on YouTube
When he arrived, dela Rosa asked the Senate to “remove” the NBI agents as well as former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, whom he claimed was part of the NBI operatives’ “harassment”.
Source: Senate of the Philippines on YouTube
Senate President Alan Cayetano later confirmed that the NBI agents were in the Senate to arrest dela Rosa.
However, he also claimed that the chamber had no prior knowledge of the arrest.
On Monday, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber unsealed dela Rosa’s arrest warrant, which was initially issued as secret on 6 Nov 2025.
The ICC’s press release stated that the senator is involved in the killing of at least 32 individuals in the Philippines between 3 July 2016 and the end of April 2018.
It also said that, upon reviewing evidence submitted by the Prosecution, Members of the Chamber “found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Dela Rosa is allegedly criminally responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder”.
Dela Rosa is also believed to have been involved in a plan to kill alleged criminals from Nov 2011 to March 2019, during which he was a police officer who held various positions in the Davao region and in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Following the incident, Senator Rodante Marcolata questioned the NBI’s involvement in the arrest, as matters involving international law enforcement matters must be handled by the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC).
He then made a motion to place dela Rosa under protective custody “until he is able to get all and exhaust all legal remedies to protect himself and until this institution is able to do just the same”.
Source: Senate of the Philippines on YouTube
The Senate agreed to put dela Rosa under protective custody and hold the NBI agents in contempt.
That afternoon, Dela Rosa’s lawyers also sought a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court against his arrest, claiming the authorities do not have a Philippine judicial warrant against the senator.
Meanwhile, the PNP said it is awaiting a court order based on coordination with the National Central Bureau (NCB) of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the PCTC before it implements “the appropriate contingency plans”, Inquirer reported.
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Featured image adapted from Manila Standard on Facebook, Rappler on YouTube.