MANILA – Gunshots were fired at the Philippine Senate on the evening of May 13 where a lawmaker wanted by the International Criminal Court has sought refuge. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for calm and denied any government involvement in the incident.

“It was not the government that did this,” Mr Marcos said in a statement broadcast on his Facebook account.

“There was no instruction to arrest Senator Bato,” he said, referring to Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, whose nickname Bato means rock in Tagalog and who has been holed up in the Senate complex since May 11.

A former police chief, Dela Rosa is wanted by the ICC for his role in alleged crimes related to a violent crackdown on drugs during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

He denies any wrongdoing but has been on the run for six months. Having led National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents on a high-speed chase on May 11, jogging through the halls and running up and down stairwells in the Senate building, he has now invoked his right to sanctuary.

Mr Marcos said he told National Bureau of Investigation agents to leave the Senate premises shortly after the Supreme Court granted respondents 72 hours to comment on Dela Rosa’s request for a restraining order against his arrest.

“The thing to do now is to tell our people all to calm down and we will get to the bottom of this,” Mr Marcos said, adding that both the Senate and the police will investigate who was behind the attack and whether destabilisation of the government was a motive.

While the Hague-based ICC issued a warrant for Del...