Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte said he was prepared to accept responsibility as the International Criminal Court took him into custody Wednesday to face charges over his war on drugs.

The ICC, based in The Hague, believes there are “reasonable grounds” to charge Duterte with murder as a crime against humanity, as an “indirect co-perpetrator” during the anti-drug campaign that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands.

“I am the one who led our law enforcement and military. I said that I will protect you and I will be responsible for all of this,” Duterte said in a video posted to his and a close advisor’s Facebook pages.

“I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible,” said the 79-year-old, the first Asian former head of state to appear before the ICC.

Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech/ AFP

A spokesman confirmed Duterte was in court custody after he arrived in Rotterdam by private jet.

A vehicle thought to be carrying Duterte drove into the ICC detention centre in The Hague past a crowd of dozens of supporters, some shouting: “Bring him back” and waving national flags.

“There has been no due process,” said caregiver Duds Quibin, 50. “This is kidnapping. They just put him on a plane and brought him here,” he told AFP.

The centre, located close to the North Sea coast, offers each prisoner an individual cell equipped with a computer to work on their case, along with an outdoor exercise area.

Duterte will be held there until an initial court appearance, likely in the coming days.

Protesters holding Filipino flags and a banner in support of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gather outside the The Hague Penitentiary Institution prison, which houses the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention unit, after a plane carrying Duterte landed landed in the Netherlands following his arrest on an ICC warrant tied to his deadly crackdown on drugs, in Scheveningen, on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Ramon van Flymen / ANP / AFP)

Speaking to AFP outside the ICC, Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims of the drug war, said: “My clients are very thankful to God because their prayers have been answered.”

“The arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a great signal for international criminal justice. It means that no one is above the law,” Andres added.

‘Oppression and persecution’

Before her father’s departure, the Philippines’ Vice President Sara Duterte said he was being “forcibly taken to The Hague”, labelling the transfer “oppression and persecution”.

On Wednesday, she flew from Manila to be by his side.

A media relations officer for the vice president told AFP that she had since landed in Amsterdam and planned to hold a press conference at The Hague on Friday.

Demonstrators wave Philippines national flag as they demonstrate in front of the Hague Penitentiary Institution (Penitentiary Institution Haaglanden), which also serves as a United Nations Detention Unit (UNDU) for those on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Scheveningen, a district of the The Hague on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Ramon van Flymen / various sources / AFP) / NETHERLANDS OUT

The one-time alliance between President Ferdinand Marcos and the Duterte family has exploded spectacularly since the 2022 presidential election, when Sara Duterte was Marcos’s running mate.

She is currently facing a Senate trial on a number of charges, including corruption and an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.

At a church in the capital Manila, people whose family members were killed in the drug war welcomed the arrest.

“Duterte is fortunate, there’s due process for him. There was no due process for my son” Angelito, said Emily Soriano at a press briefing organised by a local rights group.

Duterte “will be lying down on a good bed, my son is already rotting at the cemetery”.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the arrest as “a very important step towards seeking accountability for the thousands of victims of killings.”

China, however, warned the ICC against “politicisation” and “double standards”, saying it was “closely monitoring” Duterte’s case.

The high-profile case comes with the ICC currently under sanctions from Donald Trump.

The US president is unhappy with the court, which was founded in 2002 to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

People carrying the Philippine flag demonstrate outside the prison in Scheveningen, The Hague, on March 12, 2025. (Photo by Ramon van Flymen / ANP / AFP) / NETHERLANDS OUT – BELGIUM OUT

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said the fact that Duterte’s arrest warrant had been carried out “is important to victims” and proof that “international law is not as weak as some may think”.

‘Davao Death Squad’

The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte’s instructions.

But the tribunal claims jurisdiction over killings up to then, including ones in the southern city of Davao when Duterte was mayor.

The ICC said in its arrest warrant there were “reasonable grounds to believe” at least 19 people had been murdered in the city by members of the “Davao Death Squad”, headed by Duterte.

Additionally, at least 24 people were killed by Philippines police in various locations, judges believe.