Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested and flown to The Hague, where he will face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his brutal “war on drugs”.
The arrest marks a stunning reversal in Philippine policy, as current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr—who previously rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction—now facilitates Duterte’s prosecution.
The development comes amidst deepening political divisions between the Marcos and Duterte families, with the former allies now at openly at odds with each other.
On Tuesday morning, Duterte, 79, was arrested upon his arrival in Manila’s international airport from Hong Kong. Shortly after, he was placed on a flight bound for The Hague, where ICC prosecutors accuse him of mass killings in his deadly anti-drug campaign. The warrant against Duterte was issued by the ICC in relation to the murder of at least 43 people in Davao City from 2011 to 2016—when he served as mayor—and an estimated 12,000 to 30,000 civilians killed nationwide during his presidency from 2016 to 2022.
His youngest daughter, Veronica Duterte, posted updates on social media, alleging that the former leader had been "kidnapped" and forcibly taken to the ICC. However, Marcos Jr defended the arrest, stating "I am confident the arrest was proper, correct and followed all necessary legal procedures."
"Interpol asked for help, and we obliged because we have commitments to Interpol, which we have to fulfil," he added.
Duterte, known for his fiery rhetoric and disdain for human rights, protested the arrest, stating "If I committed a sin, prosecute me in Philippine courts, with Filipino judges, and I will allow myself to be jailed in my own nation".
Despite his protests, ICC prosecutors maintain that the Philippines remains within their jurisdiction, as the crimes in question occurred before Duterte withdrew the country from the ICC in 2019.
Marcos’ reversal on the ICC
For years, Marcos Jr refused to cooperate with the ICC, repeatedly stating that the Philippines would not recognise its jurisdiction. In July 2023, he declared “We will not cooperate with the ICC in any way, shape, or form”.
Even as recently as early 2024, he publicly rejected the ICC investigation, claiming:
“Let me say this for the 100th time. The Philippine government will not lift a finger to help any investigation that the ICC conducts.”
Yet, his stance changed dramatically in the weeks leading up to Duterte’s arrest in the midst of a bitter political feud between the Marcos and Duterte families.
In 2022, Marcos Jr and Duterte’s daughter, Sara Duterte, ran as an alliance and secured a landslide victory, with Marcos winning the presidency and Sara Duterte becoming vice president. However, their alliance began to crumble in late 2023, after Marcos Jr’s allies launched corruption investigations into Sara Duterte.
The feud escalated further after the arrest of Apollo Quiboloy, a powerful pastor and close adviser to Rodrigo Duterte, on sexual abuse and corruption charges. Duterte’s supporters accused Marcos of betrayal, calling for his removal.
By late 2024, Sara Duterte was impeached by Marcos Jr’s allies in Congress, though she remains vice president. Since then, both families have been engaged in a political war ahead of the May 2025 midterm elections.
As tensions escalated, Marcos Jr’s change in stance on the ICC became a powerful political weapon—allowing him to remove Duterte as a political threat while also demonstrating compliance with international justice mechanisms.
Duterte’s presidency was defined by extrajudicial killings, as he empowered police and “death squads” to shoot drug suspects on sight. He once infamously declared:
“There will be so many bodies dumped in Manila Bay that fish will grow fat from feeding on them.”
Between 2016 and 2022, the ICC estimates between 12,000 and 30,000 people were killed in drug-related police operations—a majority of whom were poor urban men. Investigations have found that police routinely planted evidence and falsified reports to justify killings.
Despite international condemnation, Duterte remained wildly popular, with approval ratings as high as 73% at the end of his presidency.
The ICC’s investigation extends to his years as mayor of Davao (2011–2016), where he allegedly oversaw the Davao Death Squad, a group that executed suspected criminals and drug users. During an investigation into his drug war in 2024, Duterte openly admitted:
“I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country.”
“I hate drugs, make no mistake about it.”
As Duterte is flown to The Hague, Filipino human rights activists have hailed his arrest as a turning point. One of Duterte’s fiercest critics, Leila de Lima, who was wrongfully imprisoned for six years under his government, declared,“Today, Duterte is being made to answer—not to me, but to the victims, to their families, to a world that refuses to forget. This is not about vengeance. This is about justice finally taking its course.”
Read more from the BBC here, The Guardian here and Al Jazeera here.