Asia| A strongman in the dock
The global importance of Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest
Thugs in high office can be deterred. But only if politics allows
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte
Photograph: Reuters
WHEN RODRIGO DUTERTE was arrested on the morning of March 11th, as he stepped off a plane in Manila, hundreds of supporters thronged outside the airbase to protest. Their hero, a former president of the Philippines, had been denied due process, they claimed.