Ex-President Duterte arrives in Netherlands for ICC drug war trial

Metro Manila, Philippines - Former President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday, March 12, where he will stand trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s bloody drug war.

Duterte’s plane arrived at the Rotterdam Airport shortly before midnight from a layover at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The ex-president’s plane left the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City on Tuesday at 11:03 p.m., hours after he was arrested by local authorities upon arrival in Manila from a political campaign in Hong Kong.

In a recorded video before his arrival at the airport, Duterte said his battle with the ICC will be a “long legal proceeding.”

“For all of the whatever happened in the past, ako ang nag-front sa ating law enforcement at military…ako ang managot,” he said.

[Translation: For everything that has happened in the past, I was the front for law enforcement and the military…I will be accountable.]

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Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Duterte will face a local court in the Netherlands before he is turned over to the ICC.

“Dadalhin muna sa isang local court at doon titingnan, aalamin kung tama ba iyong proseso ng pag-arrest,” Castro said in a briefing.

“At kapag po na-validate na, sinabi naman na tama ang pagkakadala sa kaniya sa bansang kung saan siya dadalhin, dadalhin na po siya sa The Hague,” she added.

[Translation: He will first be brought to a local court where they will check if the arrest was done properly. And if the arrest is validated, and they say that he was delivered properly to the country he’s supposed to go, he will then be sent to The Hague.]

Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity over drug war extrajudicial killings (EJKs) when he was Davao City mayor in 2011 up to March 2019 when he opted out of the Rome Statute, a treaty that created the ICC.

Duterte ordered the country’s immediate withdrawal from the Rome Statute after the ICC resumed the probe on his controversial anti-drug campaign. The ICC said it has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed while the Philippines was still a member.

Duterte was arrested via an ICC warrant which was coursed through the International Police Organization (Interpol), of which the Philippines remains a member.

While clarifying that the Philippine government maintains its position of not cooperating with the ICC, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Duterte’s arrest is in line with the country's obligation and commitment to Interpol.

Duterte has been under ICC investigation for alleged EJKs through the so-called Davao Death Squad that began during his term as Davao City mayor and throughout his early years as president.

Based on human rights records, the drug war death toll reached around 30,000.