Rodrigo Duterte, the ex-President of the Philippines, was arrested at Manila International Airport on Tuesday on the order of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a crime against humanity case.
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025 after landing at Manila's international airport by police acting on an International Criminal Court warrant over his deadly war on drugs, the presidential palace said. (AFP File)
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Duterte arrived at the airport on a flight from Hong Kong, and the Manila Police immediately took him into custody. The government of the country issued a statement confirming the arrest.
"Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general served the ICC notification for an arrest warrant to the former president for the crime of crime against humanity. He's now in the custody of authorities," the government statement said.
Who is Rodrigo Duterte?
Rodrigo Duterte is the former President of the Philippines, having served his term from 2016 to 2022. He is also the oldest person in the country’s history to assume the presidential office, starting his term at the age of 71.
He is best known for his crackdown on drugs in the Philippines. He termed the operation a ‘war on drugs’. While many criticised the crackdown as ‘extrajudicial killings’, Duterte defended the policy, saying it aimed to protect the country and its citizens.
Why was Rodrigo Duterte arrested?
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Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the administration of his successor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on a warrant issued by the Hague-based ICC for alleged crimes against humanity during the bloody ‘war on drugs’.
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Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the administration of his successor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on a warrant issued by the Hague-based ICC for alleged crimes against humanity during the bloody ‘war on drugs’.
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Duterte, 79, was taken into custody after Interpol provided a copy of the ICC warrant. The court launched an investigation into Duterte’s war on drugs in 2021.
Human rights groups say more than 12,000 people were killed in anti-drug operations during Duterte’s six years in office when police and state-backed vigilantes violently targeted and executed suspects. Duterte had pulled the Philippines out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that governs the ICC, in 2019.
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The former president’s arrest might bring turmoil in the politics of the Philippines as his daughter Sarah Duterte is Marcos Jr.’s deputy and lodged in a feud with him already.
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