During the initial appearance, the judge summarised the allegations against Duterte, who was not asked to enter a plea. Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, is set to be the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC, a court of lastContinue Reading
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC), marking a significant step forward in the pursuit of accountability and justice for the extrajudicial killings perpetrated by state forces during his bloody campaign against illegal drugs. How will Duterte’s arrest in Manila andContinue Reading
Selecting the worst from Rodrigo Duterte’s vast canon of despicable comments is a task that slips away from you the second you think you have grasped it. Was it when he called the Pope a “son of a whore”? When he “joked” about wanting to rape an Australian missionary? OrContinue Reading
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has taken full responsibility for his administration’s “war on drugs,” as he prepares to make his first appearance at the International Criminal Court (ICC). In a video message posted yesterday on his Facebook account, the 79-year-old addressed his “countrymen” and said once again that heContinue Reading
I have just returned from Manila, where I attended a program on reimagining the university that included a session on extrajudicial killings. Survivors shared harrowing testimonies: stories of family members taken in the dead of night, of justice denied, and of children caught in the crossfire of former President RodrigoContinue Reading
Calls are mounting for the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC), following the arrest and extradition of former President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this week. The 79-year-old former president was detained by Philippine police in Manila on Tuesday and hastily flown to The Hague, Netherlands, where he was transferredContinue Reading
A WINDING PATH Duterte’s morning arrest at Manila’s international airport followed a brief trip to Hong Kong. Speaking to thousands of overseas Filipino workers there Sunday, the former president decried the investigation, labelling ICC investigators “sons of whores” while saying he would “accept it” if an arrest were to beContinue Reading
FINAL TOLL By the time Duterte left office in 2022, the drug war’s official toll had at least tripled. Police said 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations. The Philippine government has officially acknowledged 6,248 deaths due to the anti-drug campaign. But activists say the real toll of the crackdownContinue Reading
Philippine police today arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte in connection with the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s ongoing investigation into his violent anti-drug campaign. In a statement, the presidential palace said that the 79-year-old was arrested this morning at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport after returning from Hong Kong. “Early inContinue Reading
A senior Philippine police official has filed a criminal complaint against former President Rodrigo Duterte over comments he made during a campaign rally last week, at which he jokingly threatened to kill 15 incumbent senators to make way for his party’s own slate of candidates. The complaint against Duterte wasContinue Reading
