The Philippine police arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte last night (Tuesday) after an arrest warrant was issued against him by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The arrest occurred shortly after the former president landed in Manila after returning from a visit to Hong Kong.
From 2016 to 2022, he served as president and was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people when he allowed the killing of drug dealers and drug users.
The former president asked after his arrest: "“What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?"
Duterte's former spokesman claimed that this is an illegal arrest since the former president decided to withdraw from the court in The Hague in 2019.
The Hague rejects the claim and states that the arrest warrant was issued even before the Philippines left the court, which keeps the warrant valid.
Before being elected president, he served as the mayor of Davao for 22 years and made the city one of the safest in the area, which helped him win the elections.
Throughout the campaign and after being elected, he called on security forces to shoot drug suspects without trial.
In 2016, he caused an uproar when asked about the comparisons made between him and Hitler and said he would be happy to kill 3 million drug users 'like Hitler did to the Jews.'
Later, he recanted and said he had no intention of comparing himself to Hitler, but that due to the comparison he wanted to respond to his critics.
According to estimates, the current Vice President, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former president, is expected to win the upcoming elections in the country which will take place in 2028.