Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila’s international airport on Tuesday following an order by the International Criminal Court over charges of crimes against humanity linked to his deadly anti-drug campaign.
Duterte was taken into custody by police after arriving from Hong Kong. According to a statement from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office, the arrest was carried out after the ICC issued a warrant against Duterte for his alleged role in the mass killings during his controversial war on drugs.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity,” the statement read. “He’s now in the custody of authorities.”
The arrest sparked chaos at the airport as Duterte’s supporters, lawyers, and aides protested, claiming his rights were being violated. “This is a violation of his constitutional right,” said Senator Bong Go, a close ally of Duterte.
The ICC warrant, dated March 7, stated that there were “reasonable grounds to believe that” the attacks on drug suspects “were both widespread and systematic,” lasting for several years and resulting in thousands of deaths.
The court stressed that Duterte’s arrest was necessary to ensure his appearance before the court. It added, “Although Duterte is no longer president, he appears to continue to wield considerable power. Mindful of the resultant risk of interference with the investigations and the security of witnesses and victims, the chamber is satisfied that the arrest of Mr. Duterte is necessary.”
The arrest brought an emotional response from families of the victims of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Randy delos Santos, whose teenage nephew Kian was killed by police in 2017, said, “This is a big, long-awaited day for justice. Now we feel that justice is rolling. We hope that top police officials and the hundreds of police officers who were involved in the illegal killings should also be placed in custody and punished.”
In 2018, three police officers were convicted for Kian delos Santos’ murder — one of the rare cases where law enforcement officers were held accountable during Duterte’s campaign.
The ICC’s investigation covers drug-related killings from November 1, 2011, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City, to March 16, 2019, shortly before he pulled the Philippines out of the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, in 2019. Human rights groups said the withdrawal was an attempt to avoid prosecution.
Despite Duterte’s move, the ICC ruled in 2023 that it could resume its investigation, rejecting the Duterte administration’s argument that the Philippines was already probing the killings.
President Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, has chosen not to rejoin the ICC but confirmed his government would cooperate if the court requests Duterte’s arrest through a Red Notice — an international alert for locating and detaining a suspect.
It remains unclear when Duterte will be transferred to Europe to face the ICC, but the Philippine government assured that the 79-year-old former leader is in good health.
