Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating allegations that “crimes against humanity” were committed during his so-called “war on drugs”.
Duterte was taken into custody on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at Manila airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong, according to the Philippine government, which received the ICC request via Interpol, the international police agency.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crimes against humanity,” the government said in a statement.
“He’s now in the custody of authorities.”
The charge is related to Duterte’s brutal anti-drugs drive, which he ran during his time in office from 2016 to 2022. Suspects were deprived of “due process under the law” and thousands of people, including children, died, according to the complaint.
The former president questioned the legality of the arrest.
“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?” Duterte said in a video uploaded to social media by his daughter, Veronica Duterte.
“Explain to me now the legal basis for my being here, as I was brought here not of my own volition. It’s somebody else’s,” he added.
In a speech on Saturday in Hong Kong, he had defended his actions as president, saying he “did everything … for the Filipino people”.
Throughout Duterte’s six-year presidency, more than 7,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations, according to police records.
However, human rights advocates have claimed that the killings numbered more than 30,000, including those who were killed by unknown suspects, some of whom later turned out to be police officers.
Source: Aljazeera.com
