Ex-Philippine President Duterte boards plane for The Hague

Ex-Philippine President Duterte boards plane for The Hague

MANILA
Ex-Philippine President Duterte boards plane for The Hague

Police guard the gates of Villamor air base where former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is being held after his arrest, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, near Manila, Philippines.

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has boarded a flight bound for the Hague, his lawyer Martin Delgra said Tuesday, following his client's arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.

Delgra told a group chat open to journalists on messaging app Viber that Duterte boarded the plane at Manila's international airport with three others at about 9 pm (1300 GMT), adding: "We cannot go near the plane. Plane still on tarmac with door open."

The 79-year-old faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder," according to the ICC, for a crackdown in which rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

"Early in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC," the presidential palace said in a statement.

"As of now, he is under the custody of authorities."

Duterte was arrested after landing at Manila's international airport following a brief trip to Hong Kong.

Speaking to thousands of overseas Filipino workers there on March 10, the former president decried the investigation, labelling ICC investigators "sons of whores" while saying he would "accept it" if an arrest were to be his fate.

The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte's instructions, but the tribunal maintained it had jurisdiction over killings before the pullout, as well as killings in the southern city of Davao when Duterte was mayor there, years before he became president.

It launched a formal inquiry in September 2021, only to suspend it two months later after Manila said it was re-examining several hundred cases of drug operations that led to deaths at the hands of police, hitmen and vigilantes.

The case resumed in July 2023 after a five-judge panel rejected the Philippines' objection that the court lacked jurisdiction.