Updates: In next step, ICC to schedule Duterte’s initial appearance in court

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest Tuesday on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court has prompted a flurry of follow-up actions and comments from his supporters, human rights groups and victims’ families. Here are updates from BenarNews’ live coverage of  the situation as it unfolds.

- Updated at 13:45 p.m. ET on 2025-03-11

What happens now? The ICC’s public affairs unit briefly mentioned the next step in the proceedings, in an email response to BenarNews.  “Once a suspect is in ICC custody, an initial appearance hearing will be scheduled,” the email reply said. At the appearance, rhree pre-trial judges confirm the suspect’s identity and make sure he/she understands the charges, the ICC’s website says. Then the court holds hearings on the confirmation of charges. After hearing the prosecution, the defense, and the legal representative of victims, the judges decide if there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial. This decision is usually taken within 60 days, the ICC website says. Depending on this decision, the case either moves to the next phase, which is the trial stage, or not.

- Updated at 13:30 p.m. ET on 2025-03-11

The International Criminal Court’s founding treaty grants it jurisdiction over four main crimes, one of which is crimes against humanity, which Philippines’ ex-President Rodrigo Duterte is accused of committing. The ICC website says that such crimes are serious violations committed as part of a large-scale attack against any civilian population. The 15 forms of crimes against humanity listed in the Rome Statute include offences such as murder, rape, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, enslavement – particularly of women and children, sexual slavery, torture, apartheid and deportation.

- Updated at 12:53 p.m. ET on 2025-03-11

The arrest of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte must be viewed within the context of Philippine domestic politics as well, wrote World Politics Review, a website that publishes experts’ analyses on global affairs. Noting that local politics in this Southeast Asian nation is often linked to the “machinations” of the country’s dynastic clans, WPR said that in this case, current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was in the midst of a feud with his predecessor’s daughter Sara Duterte who is also vice president, although they had contest elections together. “Meanwhile, there are open questions about the ICC’s jurisdiction in this case, as Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the court’s founding treaty while he was president,” WPR said. “Regardless of the legal complexities, though, the case and Duterte’s arrest will have significant implications for the ICC, Philippine politics and geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific region.” 

- Updated at 11:30 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

A plane carrying former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte took off Tuesday night for The Hague after the ex-leader was arrested earlier in the day, announced President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at a news conference 11:15 p.m. local time. “The plane left at 11:03 p.m.,” and flew out of Philippines' airspace, Marcos said. He noted that Duterte had been taken into custody after arriving in Manila from Hong Kong on Tuesday morning in compliance with an Interpol warrant. “Interpol asked us to do it,” Marcos said.

- Updated at 10:05 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

Phil Robertson, Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates director, said the families of drug war victims are finally able to see Duterte face justice. “For years, Rodrigo Duterte’s hubris was only matched by the impunity he enjoyed for his role in orchestrating the killing of tens of thousands in his brutal war on drugs. But shifts in power, and the end of Marcos-Duterte alliance, left him vulnerable – and he was apparently the last one to realize it. And how the mighty have fallen, holding out the possibility that real justice will be done for all those murdered by Philippines police and vigilantes. This day belongs to the families of the thousands of victims mowed down in Duterte’s campaign of carnage, who finally had their prayers answered by seeing him under arrest at The Hague.”

- Updated at 8:50 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

Meanwhile, China warned the International Criminal Court against “politicization” or “double standards.” Beijing called the arrest “an important sudden incident,” when asked for reactions about the Philippine ex-president who had cultivated close ties with China during his time in office. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in response to a question about Duterte’s arrest that the government was closely following developments. “I would like to reiterate China’s consistent view that the International Criminal Court should strictly follow the principle of complementarity, exercise its functions and powers prudently in accordance with the law and prevent politicization or double standards,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters.

- Updated at 8:40 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

Experts say that the ICC retains jurisdiction for crimes committed before the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which took effect on March 17, 2019. The international court’s mandate says it retains jurisdiction if a government is unable or unwilling to prosecute. And Tuesday’s arrest of Duterte indicates that the court believed the Philippines cannot or would not conduct a genuine investigation into the allegations. Under crimes against humanity, Duterte is accused specifically murder relating to the extrajudicial killings that took place during his anti-drug campaign from 2016 to 2019. The former president is is implicated in the widespread and systematic attack on civilians. 

- Updated at 8:05 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

The Malacañang presidential palace in Manila declined to confirm a social media report Tuesday night that said authorities were preparing to immediately send Duterte on a plane to The Netherlands. The 79-year-old Duterte is being investigated by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor over alleged crimes against humanity that were committed when police killed thousands of suspected drug addicts and dealers during his time in office (2016-22).  The investigation period includes the years Duterte served as mayor of Davao, where the tough-talking and notoriously foul-mouthed Duterte built a reputation for coming down hard on illegal drugs.   

- Updated at 7:45 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

Sara Duterte, the ex-president’s daughter and current vice president, condemned her father’s arrest saying it was “a blatant affront” to the Philippines’  sovereignty. “Worse, former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is being denied his fundamental rights. Since he was taken this morning, he has not been brought before any competent judicial authority to assert his rights and to allow him to avail of reliefs provided by law,” Sara Duterte alleged. “As I write this, he is being forcibly taken to The Hague tonight. This is not justice – this is oppression and persecution.” Sara Duterte was impeached last month by the Philippines’ House of Representatives.

- Updated at 7:25 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of human rights group Amensty International, has called on the Philippines to rejoin the Rome Statute. “Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest is a long-awaited and monumental step for justice for the thousands of victims and survivors of his administration’s ‘war on drugs’, which turned much of the Philippines into a nation of mourning,” she said in a statement.  Philippine authorities must surrender Duterte to the ICC to face trial, she said.  “We call on the Philippine government to rejoin the Rome Statute and cooperate fully with the ICC’s investigation, including if further arrest warrants are issued against other former and current Philippine government officials.”

-Updated at 7:15 a.m. ET on 2025-03-11

The Philippine Supreme Court has received a petition for injunction filed by Duterte and Sen. Ronald dela Rosa challenging the government’s cooperation with the ICC in the ex-president’s arrest and other supporting actions. The motion seeks a restraining order to prevent the authorities from “facilitating, assisting or cooperating” with the ICC, which is based in The Hague. The petition states that Manila’s withdrawal in March 2019 from the Rome Statute that created the ICC had terminated that court’s jurisdiction over the Philippines and its nationals.