Duterte put on a plane to face ICC in the Hague following Manila arrest: daughter

Manila: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has departed for the Hague aboard a chartered flight following his arrest in connection with an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.

Authorities took Duterte into custody on Tuesday morning at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 before transferring him to Villamor Air Base for processing.

Martin Delgra, one of Duterte's lawyers, confirmed to the Inquirer that the former president is now on onboard a plane that would take him to the ICC, an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands.

The arrest of Duterte, 79, follows an ICC warrant issued over alleged crimes against humanity linked to his administration’s controversial war on drugs.

Official government figures place the death toll from the drug war at around 6,000.

However, human rights organisations and the ICC estimate that between 12,000 and 30,000 individuals were killed between 2016 and 2019, with many cases allegedly classified as extrajudicial killings.

Duterte has consistently denied wrongdoing. He maintained that his administration’s anti-drug campaign was necessary to combat widespread narcotics-related crime.

Families of victims welcomed Duterte's arrest even as an anti-Duterte group organised a rally in Manila.

A group of Duterte supporters, meanwhile, gathered outside the gate of Villamor Air Base where the former president was brought after his arrest at the airport.

Veronica "Kitty" Duterte, daughter of the former president, posted on her Instagram account: "They're taking him out on a plane by force without considering his health conditions."

In an Instagram post, Kitty shared a photo of her father’s medical certificate signed by a physician, indicating that the 79-year-old former President consulted for follow-up care for diabetes management.

Malacañang, the presidential palace, confirmed that Duterte was put under the custody of authorities after getting arrested for crimes against humanity.

In a statement, Agnes Callamard of Amnesty International, said: “Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest is a long-awaited and monumental step for justice for the thousands of victims and survivors of his administration’s ‘war on drugs’, which turned much of the Philippines into a nation of mourning. The man who said, ‘my job is to kill’ oversaw the shootings to death of victims — including children — as part of a deliberate, widespread and well-organized campaign of state-sanctioned killings."