Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the government Tuesday after it allegedly received an International Criminal Court warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity, CNN reported. The 79-year-old was taken into custody amid chaotic scenes at Manila's main airport after returning to the Philippines from Hong Kong.
Interpol's Manila office had received "the official copy of the arrest warrant from the ICC" on Tuesday morning. "Upon his arrival, the Prosecutor General filed an ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity," the Presidential Communications Office stated, adding that Duterte is currently in custody of authorities.
The ICC has investigated Duterte over his brutal anti-drugs crackdown during his time in office that killed more than 6,000 people based on police data, though independent monitors believe the number could be much higher, CNN reported. The bloodshed prompted the ICC investigation, a monthslong House of Representatives inquiry, and a separate Senate inquiry led by the cousin of the current President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.
Duterte questioned the basis for his detention in a video posted online by his daughter. "What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?" he asked. The former president has repeatedly denied extrajudicial killings of alleged drug suspects, although he also openly admitted to ordering police to shoot suspects who resist arrest.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC under Duterte's administration, but under the court's withdrawal mechanism, it retains jurisdiction over crimes committed during a state's membership period – in this case, between 2016 and 2019, when the Philippines' pullout became official.
His former spokesperson Harry Roque contested the legality of the detention. "The warrant of arrest has no basis because it was issued at a time when we are no longer a member of the ICC," Roque said in a livestream on Facebook. "What is happening right now is unlawful detention. We have not seen the warrant of arrest from the police or Interpol."
Presidential communications undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters on Monday that "Our law enforcers are ready to follow what law dictates, if the warrant of arrest needs to be served because of a request from Interpol," according to Reuters.
Duterte had apparently anticipated his arrest. "From my own news, I have a warrant from the ICC or something," he told supporters in Hong Kong on Sunday. "What did I do wrong? I did everything that I could in my time, so there is a little bit of quiet and peace for the lives of the Filipinos."
Rights groups praised the development. Duterte's detention "is a critical step for accountability in the Philippines," said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "His arrest could bring victims and their families closer to justice and sends the clear message that no one is above the law."
Before becoming president, Duterte established his reputation as mayor of Davao City over two decades, advocating a hardline approach against criminals. He claimed to have drastically reduced the city's previously high rates of violent crime, but his tenure was also marked by allegations of connections to extrajudicial killings by vigilante groups.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, he told a crowd to "forget the laws of human rights" and warned drug pushers that as president, he would kill them just as he claimed to have done as mayor. After taking office, he maintained this unfiltered rhetorical style.
Despite frail health and the looming threat of an ICC arrest warrant, Duterte registered in October to run for mayor of his southern home city of Davao. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to strengthen his scandal-hit political dynasty amid a bitter falling out between his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, and President Marcos Jr.
