Rody arrested, extradited to ICC

To be tried in The Hague for crimes against humanity

Former President Rodrigo Duterte was extradited to The Hague, Netherlands late Tuesday evening where he will stand trial before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs.

The 79-year-old Duterte, who was arrested earlier in the day by Interpol and local authorities upon his return to Manila from Hong Kong, boarded a private jet that took off at around 11:03 p.m.

The chartered flight is expected to make a stopover in Dubai before proceeding to Rotterdam.

In a video footage shared online by retired Lt. Gen. Filmore Escobal, Duterte was seen boarding the aircraft with his former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Director Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III and Central Luzon Director Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo were also seen assisting in the transfer of Duterte to Interpol authorities.

‘Just kill me’

The former President, known by his nickname “The Punisher” for his strong-handed policies against drugs during his term as mayor in Davao City, once challenged the ICC to immediately begin trial.

On Tuesday morning, he got his wish.

After landing at the NAIA Terminal 3 at 9:20 a.m. via Cathay Pacific flight CX907 from Hong Kong, Duterte was arrested by authorities after Prosecutor General Anthony Fadullon served the ICC arrest warrant against him.

This time, Duterte was not too keen on being accosted – the first step for the ICC to begin its trial.

“You will just have to kill me. I will not allow it if you are siding with those Westerners,” Duterte said moments before exiting the plane.

As they were leaving the airport, his partner, Honeylet Avanceña, questioned why they were being made to take a different route, to which Duterte said: “Because the arrest warrant has already been issued.”

He was promptly brought to the Villamor Air Base together with Honeylet, their daughter Veronica, and Medialdea.

Duterte demanded to know the basis of his arrest in a video posted on Veronica’s Instagram account following his detention.

“So, what is the law and what is the crime that I committed? Show me now the legal basis of my being here,” he said in the video.

“I was brought here not of my own volition but somebody else’s … you have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.”

CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III read Duterte his Miranda rights at the VIP lounge at Villamor Air Base’s Kalayaan Hall.

Crimes against humanity

Malacañang said Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC early Tuesday morning.

The ICC released a copy of the 15-page arrest warrant dated March 7, 2025 and signed by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc with fellow judges Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera.

“The Chamber is satisfied that the incidents described in the Application amount to crimes against humanity that have allegedly been committed by Mr Duterte, a national of the Philippines,” the document read.

The ICC said the warrant was issued based on evidence gathered and witness testimonies assessed over the years, including accounts linking Duterte as the “founder and head of the DDS (Davao Death Squad)” while he was mayor of Davao City until he became President.

The crimes covered DDS-related killings between November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019—years when the Philippines was still a member of the ICC.

These cases fall within the Court’s jurisdiction, according to the ICC.

“Considering Mr. Duterte’s role and position during the relevant period as the Mayor of Davao City and the President of the Philippines and the fact that he was the head of the DDS, the Chamber finds that he necessarily knew about the operations and their scope,” the ICC said.

The Chamber noted that “at least 19 persons, allegedly drug pushers or thieves, were killed by members of the DDS in various locations in or around Davao City.” On top of this, 24 other alleged criminals were killed by law enforcement authorities under Duterte’s command.

“In light of the above findings, the Chamber considers that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the elements of the crimes against humanity of murder are met and that the crime was committed in the territory of the Philippines,” the ICC said.

‘The butcher is arrested at last’

Magdalo stalwarts former senator Antonio Trillanes IV and former party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, who filed a supplemental case against Duterte before the ICC in 2017, welcomed the development.

“After 8 years, at last, the butcher is arrested. To everyone who was with us in this long journey towards justice for the thousands of EJK (extrajudicial killing) victims, thank you very much!” Trillanes said in a social media post.

In November last year, a defiant Duterte told the House Quad Committee that the ICC should “hurry up.”

“This issue has been left hanging for so many years. It’s taking such a long time…I might be dead before they’re able to investigate me.”

The former President once said he would be happy to kill three million addicts, and while he has insisted he was not responsible for any unlawful deaths, police estimate killing 6,000 people in his anti-drug campaign.

But human rights groups said many thousands of other murders of mostly poor men remain unexplained, with ICC prosecutors placing the death toll at 12,000 to 30,000.

“This campaign (of) shoot-to-kill will remain until the last day of my term. I don’t care about human rights, believe me,” an unapologetic Duterte vowed in August 2016 as the death toll from his drug war neared 1,000.

“I’d be happy to slaughter them,” he said.

— Charles Dantes, Joel E. Zurbano, Rachelle Tonelada, Vince Lopez & Rex Espiritu with AFP