Duterte boards chartered flight to The Hague

Former President Rodrigo Duterte speaks inside the Southorn Stadium during a thanksgiving gathering organized by Hong Kong-based Filipino workers for the former populist president in Hong Kong on Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vernon Yuen)

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte has now boarded a chartered flight to The Hague.

Duterte is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s bloody drug war.

He was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Tuesday morning and was transferred to the Villamor Air Base.

The drug war claimed at least 6,000, according to official government data. However, human rights watchdogs and the ICC estimated the death toll from the drug war to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019. They also said several of the cases are extrajudicial killings.

READ: Gov’t ‘obliged to follow’ Interpol on Rodrigo Duterte arrest