MANILA: Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in Manila by police acting on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant citing crimes against humanity tied to his deadly war on drugs.
The 79-year-old faces a charge of 鈥渢he crime against humanity of murder,鈥� 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.
鈥淓arly in the morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC,鈥� the presidential palace said in a statement.
鈥淎s of now, he is under the custody of authorities.鈥�
The statement added that 鈥渢he former president and his group are in good health and are being checked by government doctors.鈥�
Duterte was arrested after landing at Manila鈥檚 international airport following a brief trip to Hong Kong.
Speaking to thousands of overseas Filipino workers there on Sunday, the former president decried the investigation, labelling ICC investigators 鈥渟ons of whores鈥� while saying he would 鈥渁ccept it鈥� if an arrest were to be his fate.
The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte鈥檚 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鈥� objection that the court lacked jurisdiction.
Since then, the government of President Ferdinand Marcos has on numerous instances said it would not cooperate with the investigation.
But Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office Claire Castro on Sunday said that if Interpol would 鈥渁sk the necessary assistance from the government, it is obliged to follow.鈥�
Duterte is still hugely popular among many in the Philippines who supported his quick-fix solutions to crime, and he remains a potent political force. He is running to reclaim his job as mayor of his stronghold Davao in the May mid-term election.
Charges have been filed locally in a handful of cases related to drug operations that led to deaths, only nine police have been convicted for slaying alleged drug suspects.
A self-professed killer, Duterte told officers to fatally shoot narcotics suspects if their lives were at risk and insisted the crackdown saved families and prevented the Philippines from turning into a 鈥渘arco-politics state.鈥�
At the opening of a Philippine Senate probe into the drug war in October, Duterte said he offered 鈥渘o apologies, no excuses鈥� for his actions.
鈥淚 did what I had to do, and whether or not you believe it or not, I did it for my country,鈥� he said.