Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in Manila. Police acted on an International Criminal Court warrant linked to his deadly war on drugs. At 79 years old, Duterte faces charges of murder, described by the ICC as a crime against humanity. Rights groups claim his crackdown killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men.
The presidential palace stated, “Early in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant from the ICC.” Duterte is now in police custody and is being checked by government doctors.
His former chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, called the arrest “unlawful.” Panelo said the police did not allow one of Duterte’s lawyers to meet him at the airport and did not provide a hard copy of the ICC warrant.
However, a group supporting the families of those killed in Duterte’s drug war called the arrest a “very welcome development.” Rubilyn Litao, coordinator for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, told AFP that the mothers of the victims have been waiting for this moment.
Human Rights Watch urged the government of President Ferdinand Marcos to “swiftly surrender Duterte to the ICC.” They described the arrest as a “critical step for accountability in the Philippines.”
Duterte was detained at Manila’s international airport after a short visit to Hong Kong. Speaking to overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong on Sunday, he insulted ICC investigators and said he would “accept it” if he were arrested.
The Philippines left the ICC in 2019 on Duterte’s orders. However, the court maintained jurisdiction over killings before the pullout and over killings in Davao when Duterte was mayor. The ICC began a formal inquiry in September 2021, suspended it two months later, and resumed it in July 2023 after rejecting the Philippines’ objection.
Despite this arrest, Duterte remains popular among many Filipinos. He is running to reclaim his job as mayor of Davao in the upcoming midterm elections. Locally, charges related to his drug war have been filed in several cases, though few police officers have been convicted.
