11-3-2025 (MANILA) Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is currently airborne and heading towards The Hague, following his detention on Tuesday under an International Criminal Court warrant.
According to his legal representative Martin Delgra, the 79-year-old former strongman boarded a chartered aircraft at approximately 9pm local time from Manila’s international airport. The flight, carrying Duterte and three companions, is destined for the Dutch city that houses the ICC’s headquarters.
The dramatic sequence of events began earlier on Tuesday when authorities apprehended Duterte at Manila’s airport as he returned from Hong Kong, Philippine government sources confirmed. This arrest marks an extraordinary chapter in the ICC’s pursuit of accountability for alleged crimes against humanity linked to Duterte’s controversial anti-narcotics campaign that spanned his 2016-2022 presidency.
Vice President Sara Duterte, daughter of the former president, issued an impassioned statement condemning the proceedings against her father: “As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice — this is oppression and persecution.”
The Vice President further asserted that her father had been denied the opportunity to properly exercise his legal rights before Philippine judicial authorities, framing the ICC intervention as an affront to national sovereignty. In earlier remarks following the arrest, she urged Filipino citizens to reject what she characterised as foreign interference, stating that Filipinos should not follow orders from foreigners on their soil.
