The government announced the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at Manila’s international airport on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Duterte, arrested at the airport after returning from an event he attended in Hong Kong over the weekend, was detained by police in connection with a crimes against humanity case filed against him by order of the International Criminal Court (ICC). A statement from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office indicated that the court was investigating killings that occurred during Duterte’s deadly campaign against illegal drugs.<\/p>\n
“Following Duterte’s arrival, the chief prosecutor notified the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for the former president on charges of crimes against humanity,” the government statement stated. “He is currently under the supervision of the authorities.”<\/p>\n
The surprise arrest caused chaos at the airport, with Duterte’s lawyers and aides protesting that they were prevented from approaching him after he was taken into custody by police, along with a doctor and lawyers. “This is a violation of his constitutional rights,” Senator Bong Go, a close ally of Duterte, told reporters.<\/p>\n
The government said Interpol’s Manila office had received an official copy of the arrest warrant from the global court.<\/p>\n
Randy delos Santos, the uncle of a young man killed by police during an anti-drug operation in August 2017, said Duterte’s arrest was “a long-awaited great day for justice.”<\/p>\n
“We now feel that justice has been served. We hope that senior police officials and hundreds of police officers involved in the illegal killings will also be arrested and punished,” delos Santos said.<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear where the police took Duterte. The government said the 79-year-old former leader was in good health and had been examined by government doctors.<\/p>\n
The ICC is investigating drug killings committed between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, when Duterte was mayor of the southern city of Davao, as possible crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
According to police records, more than 7,000 people were also killed in anti-drug operations during Duterte’s six-year presidency.<\/p>\n
Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the Rome Statute<\/em> in 2019, a move human rights activists claimed was aimed at evading accountability for the killings.<\/p>\n The Duterte administration moved to suspend the court’s investigation in late 2021, arguing that Philippine authorities were already investigating the same allegations and that the ICC, as a court of last resort, had no jurisdiction.<\/p>\n Appeals judges at the ICC ruled in July 2023 that the investigation could resume, rejecting the Duterte administration’s objections. The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, can intervene if countries are unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects for the most serious international crimes, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n President Marcos, who replaced Duterte in 2022 and has had a bitter political dispute with the former president, decided not to rejoin the global court. However, the Marcos administration had said it would cooperate if the ICC asked international police to detain Duterte with a Red Notice, a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a criminal suspect.<\/p>\n Salvador Panelo, who served as legal counsel and spokesperson during Duterte’s presidency from 2016 to 2022, said Tuesday that the Interpol arrest warrant came from a “false source” because the ICC has no jurisdiction in the Philippines.<\/p>\n According to a video published by local media outlet GMA News, Duterte questioned under what law and for what crime he was arrested.<\/p>\n Duterte remains a highly popular and powerful political figure in the Philippines, with many supporting his quick solutions to crime. He is running to reclaim the mayoral post of his stronghold, Davao, in the midterm elections in May.<\/p>\n Several cases have been filed locally in connection with the deadly drug operations, but only nine police officers have been convicted of killing alleged drug suspects.<\/p>\n Duterte was quoted as telling police officers to fatally shoot drug suspects if their lives were in danger. Duterte insists his pressure saved many families and prevented the Philippines from becoming a “narco-political state.”<\/p>\n At the opening of the Philippine Senate’s investigation into the drug war in October, Duterte said he had “no apologies, no excuses” for his actions.<\/p>\n “I did what I had to do, and believe it or not, I did it for my country,” he said.<\/p>\n Speculation is also growing that there may be political motivations behind Duterte’s arrest.<\/p>\n There is a bitter political tension between the Duterte family and the Marcos family.<\/p>\n In particular, the accusation and dismissal of Duterte’s daughter and former Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte for allegedly plotting to assassinate current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. further increased political tensions between the Duterte family and the Marcos administration. This, combined with the timing of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest, raised questions about whether the arrest might be political.<\/p>\n While the Marcos family maintains an alliance with the US, the country was closer to China during Duterte’s term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government announced the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at Manila’s international airport on Tuesday. Duterte, arrested at the airport after returning from an event he attended in Hong Kong over the weekend, was detained by police in connection with a crimes against humanity case filed against him by order of the International […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[736,529,7748,7754,7749,7750,958,3653,2772,7751,929,2957,1147,7756,884,7752,7747,7755,7753,821],"class_list":["post-8299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","tag-arrest","tag-china","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-davao","tag-drug-war","tag-ferdinand-marcos-jr","tag-human-rights","tag-icc","tag-international-criminal-court","tag-interpol","tag-justice","tag-manila","tag-philippines","tag-police-killings","tag-political-tensions","tag-red-notice","tag-rodrigo-duterte","tag-rome-statute","tag-sara-duterte","tag-us"],"yoast_head":"\n