Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in response to a warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity, allegedly committed during a brutal war against drug dealers.
Mercury Duterte I said He was not worried about the possibility of an arrest on Sunday while giving a speech in Hong Kong.
Duterte seemed mostly welcoming the opportunity to resolve the charges against him, but he also suggested that it would be outrageous for the ICC to arrest a 79-year-old man who has suffered from health problems due to the actions he took as president a few years ago. He also made the exception to rumors that he would remain in Hong Kong to avoid being arrested.
“What was my sin? I did everything so that the Filipinos could have a little peace and quiet,” he said in Hong Kong on Sunday.
“If this is the fate of my life, it's fine, I'll accept it. If I'm arrested and imprisoned, I can't do anything,” he complained. He then jokingly invited the audience to donate money to his gun-wielding memorial.
Duterte was in Hong Kong with her daughter Sarah. Blasts each – The Philippine Vice President to deal with a rallies of Filipino expatriates for their political parties. Sarah Duterte was was selected As a vice president as a member of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s party in 2022. stop He joined the party in May 2023 as his relationship with Marcos Jr. became sour. She was fired each in February 2025 for publicly threatening President Marcos to be killed.
Despite protests from old age and frailty, Rodrigo Duterte plans to run for his hometown mayor of Davao in the mid-May election. Duterte started him Political Career As Deputy General of Davao and later mayor.
On returning to Manila on Tuesday, Elder Duterte said detention On a warrant from the ICC for the thousands of murders committed during a decade-long drug crackdown, when he continued his election as president in 2011.
In the photo in this handout, former President Rodrigo Duterte sits at a table detained on March 11, 2025 at Villamoor Air Base in Manilaon, Philippines. Duterte had been arrested on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for crimes against humanity. (Hand photo by Senator Christopher via Getty Images)
ICC announcement We will investigate Duterte in 2018. Duterte I refused To cooperate with the probe, I was threatened If she stepped into the soil of the Philippines, she arrested ICC prosecutor Fatou Benseuda, withdrawing the Philippines from the ICC treaty in 2019, and it was the second time a member state has resigned from the international court. The first was Burundi in 2017.
Bensoda Paused Her investigation in 2021 at the request of the Philippine government resumed in 2023 after the ICC refused to appeal Manila. The Duterte administration had argued that Benceuda's investigation “violated a legitimate process and a presumption of innocence expressed as guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution.”
“You won't scare me that you'll imprison me in the International Criminal Court. I will never allow these white people to answer. I will never, never, never, ever answer the questions that come from you. That's bullshit for me. Duterte was in charge in 2019 after withdrawing from the ICC.
According to the Philippines news outlet ABS-CBN, ICC I wrote it Duterte's sealed arrest warrant on March 7th. Since its establishment in 2002, the ICC has only issued around 40 warrants and is rarely instructed to heads of state. Apart from Duterte, the most famous example of a court that ordered the arrest of a national leader is Russian President Vladimir Putin. I wanted it In relation to the invitation of Ukrainian children since March 2023.
A copy of the warrant issued by ABS-CBN, including those committed by the “Davao Death Squad,” also known as the “Davao Death Squad,” also known as the “Davao Death Squad,” also known as the “Lambada Boys,” a warrant charged with Duterte against Humanity for the murders of thousands during his drug war, is also known as the “Lambada Boys,” a group of gang Dutertes created when he was Davao Mayor.
Duterte publicly admits to creating the Davao Death Squad and boasts about its exposure, but it is contradictory whether the unit includes police officers or hires guns. October 2024, he I said The Death Squad was a Philippine Senate investigation that consisted of seven “gangs” under the “control” of a former police officer. He said he instructed his troops to encourage criminals to fight back and when they fought back, when they killed them so that my problems in town were resolved.
The ICC warrant accused Duterte of ordering “a widespread and systematic attack on civilians,” including cases of “torture and rape.” The warrant dismissed some of the charges made by ICC prosecutors on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient, but using his own official statement, he was responsible for dozens of documented killings to claim he was fully aware of the ultra-legal murderers committed under the order.
The warrant rejected the argument that the ICC had no longer had the authority to investigate or prosecute Duterte as the ICC withdrew from the court in 2019, and noted that the ICC treaty would not automatically cancel or purify ongoing investigations upon member states withdrawal.
Protesters show demanding justice for victims of the drug war after former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Quezon City on March 11, 2025 (Eabin Perias via Getty Image/AFP)
The warrant said the extraordinary step of arresting Duterte was necessary as he “appears to continue wielding considerable force,” creating “the risk of interfering with the investigation of witnesses and victims and safety.”
Philippine political scientist Richard Heidarian I said The BBC on Tuesday, which quickly arrested Duterte in Manila using a secret warrant, was necessary to prevent Duterte supporters from “bearing violent from a public gathering perspective” and “drast tactics” to “delay the tactics.”
Currently President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has refused to rejoin the ICC until now, but he is very happy to cooperate in investigating Duterte as his political alliance with the Duterte family has collapsed.
Duterte took office in 2022 with an empty approval rating, including strong support for his drug crackdown. So uniting Marcos and the Duterte dynasty in a political alliance was the surest path for Marcos Jr. to win the presidency.
Sarah Duterte on Tuesday Condemnation She blows up Marcos Jr. for arresting her father and allowing it.
“This is a blatant humiliation over our sovereignty and a shame against all Filipinos who believe in the independence of our country,” she said.
“What's worse, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has been denied his fundamental rights. Since he was taken this morning, he has not been brought before a capable judicial authority to assert his rights and make the relief provided by the law available,” she said.
“This is not justice. It is oppression and persecution,” she concluded.
According to Sarah and her younger sister Veronica Duterte, their father “forcedly took him” on the plane and whipped into the Hague “without considering his health.”
A crowd of restless Duterte supporters Gathered The area around Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport as news of Rodrigo Duterte's arrest spread across the country.
