Jonathan Head
Southeast Asia correspondent
Watch: Rodrigo Duterte questions ICC’s arrest warrant
Philippine police arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of a crime against humanity over his fatal “war on drugs.”
The 79-year-old was taken to police custody shortly after arriving at Manila Airport from Hong Kong.
He did not apologise for the brutal anti-drug crackdown, seeing thousands of people being killed while he was president of Southeast Asian countries from 2016 to 2022 and mayor of Davao before that.
At his arrest, he questioned the basis for the warrant and stated, “What kind of crime [have] Have I committed? ”
Salvador Panello, former presidential spokesman for Duterte, criticised the arrest, calling it “illegal” when the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019.
The ICC previously said it has jurisdiction in the Philippines over alleged crimes committed before the country retreated as a member.
However, activists called the arrest a “historical moment” for the war on drugs and those who died in their families, the United Nations for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but today it is bent towards justice. Duterte’s arrest is the beginning of accountability for the mass murder that defined his brutal rule,” said ICHRP president Peter Murphy.
Duterte was in Hong Kong and planned to run again for Mayor Davao’s Mayor, campaigning for the upcoming mid-term elections on May 12th.
Videos aired on local television showed him walking out of the airport using his cane. Authorities say he is “healthy” and is being looked after by government doctors.
“What is my sin? I did all my time for peace and peaceful living for the Filipino people,” he told the cheering crowd of expatriates in the Philippines before leaving Hong Kong.
A video posted by her daughter Veronica Duterte showed Duterte being held in the lounge at Villamolar Air Force Base in Manila. In it, you can hear him question the reasons for his arrest.
“What is the law and what crimes I have committed? I am here not my own will, but someone else. You must now answer for the deprivation of freedom.”
Getty Images
Duterte was arrested by police at Manila Airport shortly after arriving from Hong Kong
Duterte’s arrest marks the “beginning of a new chapter in Philippine history,” said Filipino political scientist Richard Heidarian.
“It’s about the rule of law and human rights,” he said.
Heidarian added that the authorities immediately arrested Duterte at the airport, rather than leading the matter to the course through a local court to “avoid political turmoil.”
“Duterte supporters wanted them to become violent in the face of public gatherings. [use] All kinds of delay tactics… [to] “It drags things down until the arrest warrant loses momentum,” he said.
Duterte’s demand for justice in the drug war goes “holding hand” with the political interests of his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Haedarian said.
Duterte and Marcos’ families formed a horrific alliance in their final elections in 2022. There, contrary to Elder Duterte’s wishes, his daughter Sarah ran as vice-president of Marcos JR, instead of seeking her father’s post.
The relationship has been uncovered in recent months as the two families pursued separate political agendas.
Marcos initially refused to cooperate with the ICC investigation, but as his relationship with the Duterte family deteriorated, he changed his stance and later showed that the Philippines would cooperate.
It is not yet clear whether Marcos will go as long as he hands over the former president to be brought to trial in The Hague.
“The Drug War”
Duterte served as mayor of Davao, a vast southern metropolitan city for 22 years, becoming one of the safest countries to prevent street crime.
He used the reputation of city peace and order to cast himself as a harshly talk anti-real politician to win the 2016 election on landslides.
With fiery rhetoric, he gathered security forces to shoot drug suspects. Over 6,000 suspects were shot by police or unknown assailants during the campaign, but rights groups say the numbers could increase.
Previous UN reports found that most victims were young, poor urban men, and police who did not require a search warrant or arrest warrant to carry out the home attack systematically forced suspects to risk self-forced statements or fatal forces.
Critics said the campaign targeted street-level pushers and failed to capture a massive drug lord. Many families also claimed that the victim (son, sibling, or husband) was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Congressional investigations pointed to a shadowy “death squad” of bounty hunters targeting drug suspects. Duterte denied the allegations of abuse.
“Don’t question my policy because I have no apology or excuses. I have done what I have to do.
“I hate drugs, there’s no mistake about that.”
The ICC first took note of alleged abuse in 2016 and began an investigation in 2021. In November 2011, when Duterte was Mayor of Davao, he covered the incidents that took place until March 2019, before the Philippines withdrew from the ICC.
Marcos has reduced Duterte’s anti-drug campaign and promised a fierce approach to the drug problem.
“Donald Trump of the East”
Duterte is the first leader from Mindanao, a region south of Manila, and is widely popular in the Philippines as many feel alienated by the capital’s leaders.
He often speaks in Cebuano, the local language, rather than Tagalog, which is more widely spoken in Manila and the northern regions.
When he resigned in 2022, nine in ten Filipinos said they were happy with his performance as president. This is a score not seen among his predecessors since the 1986 revival of democracy, according to the Social Weather Observatory.
His populist rhetoric and dull statements won him a moniker called “Donald Trump of the East.” He called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “idol” and under his administration the Philippines left the US to compete for their foreign policy against China.
Marcos has restored Manila ties with Washington and criticised the Duterte government for being “a nuisance to China” as the Philippines is trapped in a sea dispute with China.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it “is closely monitoring the development of the situation” and warned the ICC against “politicization” and “double standards” in Duterte’s arrest.
Duterte’s daughter and political heir Sara Duterte will be turned over as a potential presidential candidate in 2028. Incumbent Marcos is prohibited by the constitution from seeking re-election.
Additional reports from Vilma Simonette of Manila and Kelly NG of Singapore
