Rodrigo Duterte made his first international trip in a long time by rallying hundreds of cheering Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong over the weekend. He made a rare team of ex-leaders arrested for breaking international law when he made his way back to , Manila  on Tuesday.
Following an investigation into the lethal drug war that defined his rule, police met with the original Spanish president at the airport to do a subpoena from Interpol and the International Criminal Court. The 79-year-old lawmaker was escorted by police as he passed through the switch while using a wood.
A helicopter carrying Duterte has left the country for The Hague, where the former leader may experience crimes against humanity, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. He defended the president’s actions, claiming that they were in line with Manila’s commitments to Interpol and others.
We adhered to all the legal requirements, and I’m confident that if something is found to be true and accurate after investigation, Marcos said at a presentation later on Tuesday. In the midst of a long-standing conflict with the Duterte home, he denied that the action was a circumstance of “political oppression.”
The dramatic scenes, which caused stocks to drop, marked the conclusion of a decades-long investigation by human rights activists to keep Duterte accountable for a drug-related anti-narcotics campaign he led from 2016 to 2022, which resulted in the deaths of more than 6, 000 people.
In a statement, the ICC stated that one of its judicial tanks issued an arrest warrant for Duterte for” crimes of crime as a crime against humanity supposedly committed in the Philippines” between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019. His president and his time as Davao’s president and vice president were both covered by his parliamentary duties.
Without providing additional details, the judge added that he will need to have his first appearance before being detained.
His arrest comes just before May’s parliamentary elections, which coincides with the rising social tensions between Marcos and him.
Sara Duterte, his daughter, was impeached as vice president by Marcos friends in the House of Representatives last month on suspicion that she plotted to kill the leader and misappropriated public finances, allegations she has denied. The trial for A , Senate , which may determine whether she will be ousted from office is scheduled to start in July.
The administration may not permit the enforcement of the arrest warrant on Philippine soil because the ICC has no enforcement authority and relies on the member state’s cooperation, according to Leo Camacho, a legal expert and lecturer at the Ateneo School of Law in Manila. When the empire split up, things changed.
Duterte, who was once often referred to as the” Donald Trump of Asia,” is dealt a spectacular blow for his extreme management fashion. He is the second erstwhile Asian leader to have received an arrest warrant for a charge brought against him at the ICC.
The standard stock index for the Philippines dropped more than 2 % on Tuesday, marking its highest drop since January 31 and the highest level among Asian equity gauges. The peso’s exchange rate was 0.3 % higher than the money.
Duterte filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, arguing that the ICC imprisonment attempt has no legal standing in the nation.
Under Duterte, the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019. Marcos confirmed the decision shortly after he took office in 2022, stating that the country had no intention of resuming its membership in the Hague-based judge.
The authorities responded to the Marcos-Duterte conflict last year by changing its mind and saying it would cooperate if Interpol, the ICC, and the Philippines come in.
Duterte questioned the constitutional justification for his arrest. In a video posted on daughter Veronica Duterte ‘s , Facebook , page, he said,” I was brought here not of my own volition.” It’s” someone else’s.” What is the laws and what violence did I commit?
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs also made an announcement regarding the arrest, according to a spokesman who stated on Tuesday that the ICC if “avoid politicization and twice standards.”
Those who carry out functions of widespread inhumanity are held responsible by the ICC. When a nation demands an investigation into its place or its people, when the UN Security Council requests a spacecraft, or when an ICC panel of judges authorizes an investigation initiated by the judge’s attorney, it may do cases.
In November, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what it termed” crimes against humanity and war crimes” in Israel’s military operation against Hamas and other countries in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu won’t likely face trial, despite the arrest warrant’s likely restrictions on the countries where he can travel. Israel has stated that it will appeal the ICC decision. Donald Trump, President Obama, and U.S. President Obama all declared the warrant “baseless” and imposed sanctions on ICC officials who are looking into the United States, its allies, and the United States.
More than a dozen Rodrigo Duterte supporters were present at the airbase’s gate on Tuesday, some of whom were live-streaming the event, while political allies, including two senatorial candidates, showed their support. A gate at the airbase was guarded by at least four truckloads of anti-riot police.
In the midterm elections in May, Duterte intended to run for mayor of his hometown Davao City. If the ICC orders his arrest, Lautterte said this week that he is prepared to go to jail. He has also defended his nation-defining drug war, telling fans at the stadiums in Hong Kong and at a  that he had done it for both his and their children.
In a video posted on Facebook by broadcaster Bombo Radyo, Duterte said,” If that’s my fate, I will accept it.” If that’s my fate, I will accept it,” Duterte said to his supporters on Sunday in Hong Kong. If I’m arrested or imprisoned, we can’t do anything.
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