<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A burst of </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/guns" rel="" target="" title="gunfire"><span>gunfire</span></a><span> has rung out in the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/philippines" rel="" target="" title="Philippine"><span>Philippine</span></a><span> Senate, where authorities have tried to arrest a senator who is wanted by the International Criminal </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/courts" rel="" target="" title="Court"><span>Court</span></a><span> for a charge of crimes against humanity, an Associated Press journalist and other witnesses say.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was not immediately clear what set off the gunfire or if there were injuries in the </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/senate" rel="" target="" title="Senate"><span>Senate</span></a><span> chamber, where Senator Ronald dela Rosa has stayed under the protection of allied senators as Philippine authorities tried to arrest him and possibly turn him over later to the ICC.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ICC had no immediate comment on the events in Manila.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-china-visit-us-president-lands-in-beijing-ahead-of-talks-with-chinese-president-xi-jinping/87c38c9a-f0b3-4e5e-aeed-1023422a4b0f"><strong><span>Trump claims key topic off agenda as 'two superpowers' meet in Beijing</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Senate President Alan Cayetano briefly appeared before journalists in the Senate and confirmed that he has been told by the building's security that gunshots were fired, but he did not provide other details and hastily left.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The emotions are high here," Cayetano said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is the Senate of the Philippines and we are allegedly under attack."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/philippine-senate-gunfire-breaks-out-authorities-try-to-arrest-senator-ronald-dela-rosa/ec2e393e-fb98-4c9f-a359-b5cd3f114d3a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A huge throng of reporters and photo and video journalists, who have been covering the tense developments, were asked to stay in an area on the second floor. Some were later allowed to leave the building after Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla jnr arrived with police officers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Monday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug crackdowns, in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Originally issued in November, the warrant charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of "no less than 32 persons" between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the national police force under Duterte.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-mum-set-to-be-charged-after-using-listening-device-to-investigate-sons-injuries/8e5cf121-adbd-4278-8204-6de320d00174"><strong><span>Mum to be charged after sending son to school with hidden device</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dela Rosa, 64, has vowed to fight the ICC arrest order and said that he would seek all legal remedies. He also called on his followers on Wednesday night to gather in the Senate to prevent what he said was his impending arrest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to arrest dela Rosa on Monday, but he managed to dash to the Senate's plenary hall and sought the help of fellow senators. Cayetano said then that he would cite the government agents involved for contempt.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Duterte was arrested in March last year and flown to the ICC's headquarters in The Hague for detention. He remains detained by the ICC in the Netherlands and is facing a trial for alleged crimes against humanity for the killings in his brutal crackdown, in which dela Rosa has been named as one of several co-perpetrators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte," dela Rosa said, addressing his followers in a Facebook message and blaming politics for his predicament.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is unacceptable," dela Rosa said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/inquest-to-probe-cops-fatal-tasering-of-grandmother/a60dd823-972e-44d9-96a9-40704723a621" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Paramedic's 'absolute shock, disbelief' as gran Tasered</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said that he was ready to face any allegations before Philippine courts, but he denied condoning extrajudicial killings when he led the police force. Duterte has also made the same denials, although he openly threatened suspected drug dealers with death while he was in office.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of police officers have been deployed outside the Senate to maintain order, sparking complaints from dela Rosa and allied senators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners," dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate, which took him into "protective custody" on Monday when he reappeared after months of absence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Five senators called on dela Rosa to surrender to authorities in a proposed resolution, but his allies opposed the move in a heated exchange on Wednesday in the Senate, where 13 of 24 senators friendly to dela Rosa wrested control of its leadership on Monday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dela Rosa has been critical of President Ferdinand Marcos jnr but pleaded emotionally before television cameras on Monday for the president not to bring him to The Hague.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Duterte and his daughter, the current vice president, and political allies like dela Rosa have been the harshest critics of Marcos. Vice President Sara Duterte, once a political ally of Marcos, has blamed the president for allowing what she said was "the kidnapping" of her father and his handover to a foreign court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte designated dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a long-time mayor and built a political name for his extra tough approach to crimes.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people," dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves," dela Rosa said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ICC, however, said that it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member and successfully moved to have him arrested, the first former Asian leader to fall into such disgrace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY: </span></strong></em><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via </span></strong></em><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span> and </span></strong></em><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by </span></strong></em><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li><li><em><strong><span>Sign up to </span></strong></em><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" rel="" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a><em></em></li></ul></div></div>