Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity related to the drug war

Following an ICC warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity for his lethal drug war measures, Rodrigo Duterte was placed under custody.

After the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing former President Rodrigo Duterte of crimes against humanity related to his deadly “war on drugs,” Philippine police detained him.
When the 79-year-old arrived at the Manila airport from Hong Kong, he was immediately placed into police arrest.

He has not expressed regret for his harsh anti-drug campaign, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people during his tenure as president of the Southeast Asian country from 2016 to 2022 and as mayor of Davao City prior to that.

“What crime have I committed?” he asked, questioning the warrant’s justification at the time of his detention.

Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s former presidential spokesperson, denounced the detention as “illegal,” given that the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019.

Prior to the Philippines’ withdrawal as a member, the ICC claimed jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed there.

However, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, or ICHRP, noted that activists hailed the arrest as a “historic moment” for the victims of his drug war and their families.

“The moral cosmos has a lengthy arc, but it has leaned toward fairness in the modern era. Peter Murphy, the chairman of the ICHRP, stated that Duterte’s detention marks the start of accountability for the horrific murders that characterized his cruel administration.

In Hong Kong, Duterte was campaigning for the May 12 midterm elections, in which he intended to run for Davao mayor.

He was seen using a cane to exit the airport in footage that was broadcast on local television.

According to authorities, he is receiving treatment from government physicians and is in “good health.”

“What have I done wrong? Before departing Hong Kong, he addressed an enthusiastic assembly of Filipino expatriates, saying, “I did everything in my time for peace and a peaceful life for the Filipino people.”

Veronica Duterte, his daughter, shared a video of Duterte being held captive in a lounge at Manila’s Villamor Air Base. He may be heard in it asking why he was arrested.

“What is the law, and what offense did I commit?” I wasn’t brought here voluntarily; someone else did it. You must now answer for denying people their freedom.

During his 22 years as mayor, Duterte transformed the enormous southern metropolis of Davao into one of the safest places in the nation in terms of street violence.

He won the 2016 elections handily by using Davao’s reputation for maintaining peace and order and positioning himself as a tough-talking, anti-establishment leader.

He mobilized security personnel to shoot narcotics suspects to death with venomous speech. During the campaign, police or unidentified attackers shot down almost 6,000 suspects, but rights groups claim the figure may be higher.

According to a previous UN investigation, the majority of victims were young, impoverished men living in cities, and police officers routinely coerced suspects into making self-incriminating confessions or risking death by using lethal force because they did not require search or arrest warrants to conduct house raids.

The effort, according to critics, failed to apprehend major drug lords and instead targeted street-level pushers from the urban poor. The victims, their sons, brothers, or husbands were just at the wrong place at the wrong moment, according to numerous families.

Parliamentary investigations revealed a covert “death squad” of bounty hunters pursuing drug suspects. Duterte has refuted the abuse claims.

“I don’t apologize or make explanations, so don’t question my policies. In October, Duterte told a parliamentary probe, “I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I detest drugs.”

The ICC began looking into the alleged abuses in 2021 after initially noting them in 2016. From November 2011, when Duterte was Davao’s mayor, to March 2019, when the Philippines withdrew from the ICC, it covered cases.