Philippine Senator Runs From Agents in Senate to Evade ICC Arrest

A senator raced through hallways and up stairwells inside the Philippine Senate building on Monday to evade arrest by government agents attempting to serve an International Criminal Court warrant. Security camera footage captured the pursuit, showing the senator stumbling on a staircase as agents gave chase after he arrived for a session.

The standoff ended with police stating they would not arrest him while he remained in Senate custody. Barbed wire and riot police later surrounded the compound. The senator spent the night in a Senate office after the chamber's new president offered protective custody.

He has vowed to fight any effort to send him to The Hague and called on supporters to maintain a vigil outside the building until the Supreme Court rules on his case.

The International Criminal Court confirmed on Monday night that it had issued the arrest warrant for the senator, who served as national police chief during the former president's anti-drug crackdown. The court named him an indirect co-perpetrator in a case accusing the former leader of crimes against humanity over killings that numbered in the thousands between 2016 and 2018.

The warrant had been issued confidentially in November. Unconfirmed reports of its existence prompted the senator to avoid the Senate for months until he attended Monday's session to vote in a leadership election. His lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to block any arrest in the absence of a valid Philippine judicial warrant.

The senator has denied any wrongdoing and previously stated he would only face proceedings in a local court.

The chaos coincided with a vote by the lower house to impeach the vice president, the daughter of the former president. The Senate, dominated by allies of the former leader, elected a new president on Monday who stated the chamber would only act on arrest warrants issued by a Philippine court.