Duterte 'bound for Hague' after arrest

Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte boarded a flight bound for the Hague, his lawyer Martin Delgra said late last night, following his client's arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.

Delgra told a group chat open to journalists on messaging app Viber that Duterte boarded the plane with three others at about 9pm, Hong Kong time, adding: "We cannot go near the plane. Plane still on tarmac with door open."

Witnesses said the door reportedly shut later on only to open again. At around 11pm, reports said the plane finally took off.

Duterte's daughter, Philippine Vice President Sara, said Filipinos should not follow orders from foreigners on their soil. "We are not Filipinos for nothing," she said.

She also said her father had not sought asylum in China or speak with the mainland government.

Duterte's youngest daughter, Veronica, had earlier said her father had been put on a plane and the family not told of its destination.

Duterte was arrested yesterday in Manila by police acting on an ICC warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.

The 79-year-old faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder," according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

He was being held last night at the capital's Villamor Air Base, according to his political party.

"As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice - this is oppression and persecution," Sara Duterte said.

The former president had earlier gone on Instagram live to say he believed the Philippine Supreme Court would step in and prevent his transfer to the international tribunal. "The Supreme Court will not agree to that. We do not have an extradition treaty," he said after his lawyers filed a petition with the court.

Duterte was arrested at the airport after "Interpol Manila received the official copy of the warrant of the arrest from the ICC," the presidential palace said.

In an earlier video, Duterte had demanded to know the basis of his arrest. "So what is the law and what is the crime that I committed? Show to me now the legal basis of my being here," he said.

Duterte's former chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, slammed his detention as "unlawful." Reactions from those who opposed Duterte's drug war, however, were jubilant.

One group working to support mothers of those killed in the crackdown called the arrest a "very welcome development."

"The mothers whose husbands and children were killed because of the drug war are very happy because they have been waiting for this for a very long time," Rubilyn Litao, coordinator for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, said.

"Now that Duterte has been arrested, [President] Ferdinand Marcos Jr should make sure that he is actually delivered to the ICC for detention and trial," said Philippine rights alliance Karapatan, calling the arrest "long overdue."

Duterte's arrest at Manila's international airport followed a brief trip to Hong Kong.

Speaking to thousands of overseas Filipino workers there on Sunday, the former president decried the investigation, labeling ICC investigators "sons of whores" while saying he would "accept it" if an arrest were to be his fate.

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