Ex-President Duterte arrested for murders during ‘war on drugs’

SEOUL, South Korea — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday morning on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity committed during his deadly campaign against drug traffickers, the latest sensational turn in a political power struggle engulfing a key U.S. Pacific ally.

Officials of the government of current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed that the polarizing populist former president had been put on a plane late Tuesday and was en route to be turned over to ICC officials in The Hague. A former provincial mayor whose controversial six-year term as president ended in 2022, Mr. Duterte has long been a divisive figure in Manila.

At home, the unorthodox strongman famously launched a ruthless “war on drugs” to kill drug dealers. More than 6,000 people were killed in the crackdown, according to police. Abroad, he irked U.S. policymakers with pro-China policies.

Mr. Duterte, 79, was arrested by local police upon arrival at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport after a trip to Hong Kong on Tuesday morning.

“What is the crime I committed?” he asked, according to a livestream shot in custody by his youngest child, Veronica.

“Why will you bring me to the international body when we are no longer a member?” Mr. Duterte continued. “If I committed a sin, prosecute me in Philippine courts, with Filipino judges and I will allow myself to be jailed in my own nation.”

The country exited the ICC in 2019 under Mr. Duterte’s presidency, in the face of growing complaints from human rights groups about the severity of his anti-drug policies.

The period of the alleged crimes listed in the ICC warrant overlaps his terms as mayor of Davao, in the southern island of Mindanao, and as president. The arrest was arranged via Interpol, of which the Philippines is a member.

The ICC opened its case against Mr. Duterte in 2021. He has been accused of using both a vigilante group and law enforcement officers to kill drug dealers and other criminals.

On its website, the court said the crimes under consideration took place prior to Manila’s withdrawal from the ICC. In a brief statement after Mr. Duterte’s plane was in the air, ICC officials confirmed that they had issued an arrest warrant for the ex-president on charges of “murder as a crime against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.”

The unfolding drama is having a direct impact on contemporary politics, even though Mr. Duterte has been out of power for almost three years.

Mr. Duterte’s elder daughter, Sara, is Mr. Marcos’ vice president and has sought to rally opposition to her father’s arrest with messages to supporters online. Some demonstrated outside the site of his detention Tuesday, while Ms. Duterte said she was blocked by security forces from entering the airport as her father was departing.

Separately, a group of relatives and friends of the victims of Mr. Duterte’s anti-drug policies staged their own small demonstration to celebrate the government’s action to hand him over to the ICC.

Ms. Duterte and her family are engaged in a bitter feud with President Marcos, who took office in December 2022. The 46-year-old Ms. Duterte, also a former two-time mayor of Davao, served as vice president and education minister under Mr. Marcos at the outset of his administration.

However, relations between the two familial dynasties imploded over personal and policy differences.

In summer 2024, Ms. Duterte resigned from her ministerial position and it was revealed that she and Mr. Marcos had ceased communicating.

In a country noted for political violence — the airport where Mr. Duterte was detained is named for a slain politician — talk of assassinations has arisen. It is widely alleged that Mr. Duterte had links to a former counterinsurgency group, the so-called Davao Death Squad, which is accused of thousands of vigilante-style murders in the south.

Last November, Ms. Duterte said online that she had guaranteed her own security by ordering a contract killer to assassinate Mr. Marcos if she, herself, was killed.

She was impeached by the House of Representatives in February, but retains a following and is believed to have a solid shot at the next presidential campaign, in 2028.

“If she runs, she will win because of what [the Marcos government] did,” Mr. Duterte said Tuesday after being taken into custody.

Mr. Duterte himself was planning to reenter politics with a new run for mayor of his political stronghold, Davao. In Hong Kong, he had been seeking support among expatriate Philippine nationals.

During his term in the Malacanang Presidential Palace, Mr. Duterte cultivated a populist, macho image. That included using foul language — he dubbed President Obama a “son of a bitch” — stage-kissing women at rallies and personally attacking those who criticized his war on drugs.

However, he also launched reforms, championed the poor and leveraged his position as a provincial politician, rather than a member of the Manila elite. Despite his tempestuous term, he left office with high approval ratings. To Washington’s dismay, he pivoted the country toward China and Russia and reduced rotations of U.S. troops, a stance that has been reversed under Mr. Marcos.