Police in the Philippines detained on Monday the country’s former president Rodrigo Duterte, who led the country from June 2016 to June 2022.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of crimes against humanity – according to human rights activists, tens of thousands of Philipinos were executed during the fight against drug trafficking announced by Duterte.
Duterte was detained at Manila airport shortly after arriving from Hong Kong, he is now in custody. The Philippine Interpol office has obtained a copy of the ICC warrant, according to a statement from acting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Lawyer Salvador Panelo called the arrest illegal, recalling that the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019 at Duterte’s behest. The court said it has jurisdiction over crimes committed up to that point, from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.
Duterte earlier expressed his willingness to stand trial. He said the previous day at a rally in front of Filipino workers in Hong Kong:
“If it’s really my fate, it’s okay, I’ll accept it. They can arrest me, put me in jail. What is my sin? In my time, I did my best for peace and peaceful life of the Philipino people.”
Duterte’s ambitious plans
Last autumn, the former president, 79, announced plans to run for mayor of Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao, the position Duterte held before taking over the country.
Analysts believed that his return to politics was not just a personal power struggle, but an attempt to strengthen his family’s position against the Marcoses, the Philippines’ other political dynasty. The incumbent president’s father, Marcos Sr. had been in power for more than 20 years, his rule made history by martial law and rampant corruption.
When Duterte’s six-year term as president ended, his administration said security forces had killed 6,252 people, all of whom were “suspected drug traffickers.” Human rights organisations believe many more people, mostly poor people, were actually killed.
