That Viral Senate Chase Is Now a Playable Game

(SPOT.ph) When CCTV footage of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa running through the Senate halls circulated on social media, the memes came almost immediately. People edited the clip to music from Subway Surfers and Temple Run. But one indie app builder took the joke a step further: why stop at memes when you can turn the whole thing into a game?

In Senate Run, players control a character resembling Dela Rosa as he moves through a 2D Senate-inspired setting while avoiding obstacles like wet floor signs and NBI agents. The instructions are simple: keep running, time your jumps, and avoid getting caught. The game follows the same basic idea as endless runner games, where the player has to react quickly to obstacles that appear on screen.

The longer you last in the game, the more points you earn based on the “distance” you’ve traveled.

“Initially, katuwaan lang po talaga siya—more for testing and exploration... I didn’t expect it to get attention,” the game's creator, Jopel, told SPOT.ph.

The online game was inspired by the May 11 incident in which National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents pursued Dela Rosa inside the Senate in an attempt to serve him with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The infamous footage showed the senator hurriedly running through the halls and staircases, even falling at one point.

The game can be accessed at senate-run.jopel.app.

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Jopel, 25, works at a software development company, so this wasn't exactly his first go at building things for the internet. Before Senate Run, he was already making fun projects and sharing them on TikTok. His past work include an Aguinaldo Randomizer, a practical holiday tool for making sure his nieces and nephews get their “pamasko” fairly, and Koreo Litrato, where users can write postcards for themselves and other people. Other projects of his remain under development.

Senate Run took him about four nights to finish, partly due to internet issues and other priorities. He said the most time-consuming part was getting the game to look right: “Siguro po pinaka-nagpatagal talaga is yung design and graphics since medyo perfectionist din po ako.” Jopel's workmates also pitched in during the planning stage, helping shape the concept before he built it into a playable game.

Senate Run is currently only available through a web browser. Jopel said a mobile app version on the Play Store or App Store is technically possible, but publishing it there comes with fees—something he can’t afford for now.

With Senate Run going viral, Jopel is looking at what can still be improved in the game while also working on new ideas beyond it.

“After Senate Run naman po, my goal is still the same—to keep building apps that people can use or enjoy,” Jopel said. “I also have two new game ideas suggested by my coworkers, so I might focus on those first, and I’m also looking forward to improving and further enhancing Senate Run with them.”

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