Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte arrested in Manila over 'war on drugs' and en route to The Hague

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has traveled to the Netherlands and is expected to be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after his arrest in Manila over his "war on drugs," which defined his presidency.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed that the flight left Philippine airspace late Tuesday local time. Marcos Jr. stated that the plane was en route to The Hague in the Netherlands so that the former president could face charges of crimes against humanity for his bloody war on drugs.

Duterte was arrested earlier on Tuesday after arriving in the Philippines from Hong Kong, with police detaining him on an International Criminal Court warrant for alleged crimes against humanity. The ICC has been investigating the former president's "war on drugs," which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Filipinos. "I believe that the arrest was appropriate, correct, and followed all necessary legal procedures," Marcos Jr. said at a press conference confirming Duterte's departure from the country for the Netherlands.

Duterte may become the first former head of state in Asia to stand trial at the International Criminal Court. The sudden arrest caused a stir at the airport, with Duterte's lawyers and aides loudly protesting, saying that they, as well as doctors and lawyers, were prevented from approaching him after he was taken into police custody.

"You must now answer for the deprivation of liberty," Duterte said in a video released by local media GMA News provided by his youngest daughter, Veronica Duterte. It is currently unclear whom the former president was addressing in the video. Duterte, in remarks broadcast live on Instagram by his youngest daughter while in detention and before boarding the plane, said he should be tried in the Philippines, not at the International Criminal Court. "If I committed a crime, prosecute me in the Philippine courts," he told police while detained in Manila.

The government has stated that the 79-year-old former leader is in good health and was examined by government doctors before leaving the Philippines. "This is a long-awaited day for justice," said Randy delos Santos, the uncle of a teenager killed by police in a drug raid in Metro Manila in August 2017. He added, "Now we feel that justice is coming. We hope that the high-ranking police officers and hundreds of officers involved in the illegal killings should also be detained and punished."

Duterte's former legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, said the arrest was illegal and stated that one of his lawyers was not allowed to meet with Duterte at the airport. He also argued that the International Criminal Court's warrant was invalid for several reasons. "It is illegal because the warrant issued by a foreign court, the ICC, has no force and effect simply because the ICC has no jurisdiction over this country," Panelo told ABC.

Panelo also stated, "We have a functioning legal system. We prosecute criminals. We prosecute presidents. But the fact is, there is no need for a foreign court to step in and prosecute those they think are criminals. Therefore, based on that, the court cannot issue any warrant of arrest against any citizen of this country because it has no jurisdiction." However, testimony collected by the International Criminal Court from victims claimed that the Philippine government failed to properly investigate the killings during the war on drugs.

Court documents state, "The general consensus is...that the Philippine government and its agents have not conducted any genuine investigations, whether completed or ongoing." The documents also revealed that "(redacted) stated that their cases were not investigated, or were limited to perfunctory statements made before and after the killings. This raises doubts about the sincerity of the government's intention to investigate and prosecute incidents related to the campaign against illegal drugs."

The International Criminal Court began investigating drug killings under Duterte's leadership from November 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, until March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. During his presidency, a nationwide war on drugs resulted in the deaths of at least 6,284 alleged drug dealers and users (government statistics). The ICC estimates that approximately 12,000 to 30,000 people were killed between July 2016 and March 2019.

Philippine authorities have consistently denied the existence of extrajudicial executions. Many of those killed were said to have died in gun battles. But human rights groups and others say that under Duterte's leadership, Philippine police and vigilantes under their command engaged in the mass murder of unarmed drug suspects. The Duterte government argued that Philippine authorities were already investigating the same allegations, and therefore took action in late 2021 to suspend the global court's investigation, arguing that the ICC (as a court of last resort) had no jurisdiction. Human rights activists have stated that Duterte's move to withdraw from the Rome Statute in 2019 was designed to evade accountability.

The International Criminal Court's appeals judges ruled in 2023 that the investigation could be resumed, rejecting objections from the Duterte government. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who succeeded Duterte in 2022 and has become embroiled in a bitter political feud with the former president, has decided not to rejoin the global court. But the Marcos government has stated that it will cooperate if the ICC requests Interpol to detain Duterte through so-called red notices (requests for global law enforcement agencies to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition).

The war on drugs continues under the leadership of the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.