Marcos: Gov’t didn’t swarm Senate; no orders to arrest Dela Rosa

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said late Wednesday, May 13, that there were no standing orders from himself or any other officials in the executive to arrest Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the former police chief who faces a warrant from the International Criminal Court over his alleged role in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

Marcos’ statement, delivered through a recorded message that was then sent to the media, came hours after gunshots were heard at the Philippine Senate after the premises were ordered locked down.

Marcos’ top security officials, including Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jose Melencio Nartatez, had both gone to the Senate after shots were heard ringing through the Senate’s right wing.

The President said he had been monitoring the situation in Pasay City and confirmed with both Nartatez and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) chief Melvin Matibag that no shots were fired from their personnel and that neither the PNP nor the NBI was trying to serve the arrest warrant against Dela Rosa.

Newly installed Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano, in his first Facebook live of the night, accused the NBI of entering the Senate and claimed that the Senate was “under attack.” He would later say that it was an “alleged attack” on the upper chamber. Marcos’ estranged older sister, Senator Imee Marcos, told reporters after the chaos had been settled, that the Senate was under “siege.”

The Philippine President said that was not the case: “Kalma lang po. Asahan ninyo ang gobyerno ninyo hindi gagawin ito (Please remain calm. Trust that your government will not do this),” he said.

Marcos said he had spoken to Cayetano and agreed that “the thing to do now is to tell our people all to calm down and we will get to the bottom of this.”

Both the Senate and the PNP are set to hold parallel investigations into the matter.

“Aalamin natin kung sino ang gumawa nitong gulo na ito — ito ba ay talagang engkuwentro lang, ito ba ay kasama sa destab or nagsisimula ng gulo? Kailangan po nating malaman ‘yan,” Marcos added.

(We will find out who caused this chaos. Was this really just an encounter? Is this part of attempts to destabilize the government or trigger chaos? We need to know the truth.)

Marcos was once a member of the Senate before losing his 2016 bid for the vice presidency, then winning his 2022 presidential bid.

Dela Rosa, who headed the PNP at the beginning of Duterte’s bloody drug war, was once a close ally of Marcos and even campaigned for and alongside him in the 2022 elections. Marcos was then a close ally of the Dutertes, primarily through then-running mate and now-Vice President Sara Duterte.

In February 2025, the Marcos administration facilitated the arrest of the older Duterte, who now awaits trial for crimes against humanity at the ICC. Marcos then explained that the Philippines had to comply with the ICC warrant against his predecessor, citing the country’s international obligations. – Rappler.com