Former Philippines President Duterte ‘Forcibly Taken’ On Plane Bound For The Hague

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has over the years issued plenty of arrest warrants for members or leaders of governments and militaries which are basically unenforceable. Such is the case with its recent arrest warrants for Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. However, they certainly begun avoiding flying into most European countries as a result.

Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has also for years had a warrant hanging over him issued from The Hague-based court, but he too seemed of high enough stature to be beyond enforcement. This is why the Tuesday headlines of his being “forcibly taken” onto a plane headed for The Hague comes as such as surprise.

His own daughter has confirmed he was taken on to a plane flight late Tuesday. “They are taking him out on a plane by force without considering his health conditions,” Veronica Duterte wrote on Instagram. Reuters also confirmed, and photographs have emerged.

“As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice — this is oppression and persecution,” she said.

The ICC arrest warrant stems from his prior and hugely controversial “war on drugs” campaign. The 79-year old former leader had quickly upon taking office in June 2016 launched a fierce crackdown on the drug trade. He was president for six years. Alleged dealers were hunted down by elite law enforcement teams in shantytowns, and there were widespread reports of extrajudicial killings throughout the campaign.

Official police data says that at least 6,000 were killed in Duterte’s crackdown, but Human Rights Watch has listed that over 12,000 Filipinos have been killed, mostly urban poor. The police have been widely accused of often times falsifying evidence in order to target alleged criminal networks.

The fact that the current government took the drastic step of forcing him on a Hague-bound plane has shocked the country of 115 million people, leading many of his supporters into the streets, where some initial clashes with police have been reported.

Interestingly, Duterte had actually withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019. Opponents charged that he was simply trying to shield himself from prosecution, but The Hague has since said that it has jurisdiction involving crimes that took place previously under the membership period.

China’s People’s Daily writes: A chartered plane on Tuesday night flew former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, due to an arrest warrant issued by the ICC over his “war on drugs” campaign.

He had long been looked upon as a bit of a ‘rogue’ figure by many in the West, and he had positive, warm relations with everyone from Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump. Upon his first meeting with Putin in 2016, Duterte had lashed out at Western “bullying” and “hypocrisy” and declared that when it came to alliances, the United States could not be trusted. 

“Historically, I have been identified with the Western world. It was good until it lasted,” he told the Russian leader at the time. “And of late, I see a lot of these Western nations bullying small nations. And not only that, they are into so much hypocrisy,” he had said. Now apparently the ‘Western world’ is getting its revenge in the form of the ICC arrest.