Witnesses recount a night of chaos unleashed during an attempt to arrest ICC-wanted Senator Ronald dela Rosa
3-MIN READ3-MINBloombergPublished: 1:06pm, 15 May 2026Tensions were already high on Wednesday night in the Philippine Senate, days after lawmakers abruptly ousted its leader and an ex-police chief wanted by the International Criminal Court showed up after six months in hiding.
But few could guess at how suddenly terrifying things were going to get.
This is a retelling of that brief moment from interviews with witnesses, politicians and Senate security:
At around 7.45pm, Senate security saw two men wearing black bulletproof vests emblazoned with NBI – the National Bureau of Investigation, who had sought dela Rosa’s arrest. “Who are you?” yelled Mao Aplasca, acting Senate sergeant-at-arms, the chamber’s security service.
