- Duterte shares video message to supporters before landing in The Netherlands
FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte assured his supporters that he is okay in the first video message since he was whisked in a private plane to face trial at The Hague.
“To my countrymen, just to give you the current situation, I am about to land sa Hague… it’s a long flight, okay ako. Do not worry. I think, this is something to do with law and order noon at sinasabi ko naman sa mga pulis, military, trabaho kayo, at ako ang managot—so, ito na nga (I already told the police and military to do your jobs and I will take responsibility. And this is it),” Duterte said in a video message.
“For all of whatever happened in the past, ako na ‘yung nag front sa law enforcement pati sa military, at sinabi ko, I will protect you. Ako ang managot sa lahat (I will shoulder the blame for everything),” he said.
“This will be a long legal proceeding but I say to you, you continue to serve the country— so be it kung ganun ang (if that’s my) destiny,” he added.
The ICC posted an update on its website concerning the situation of the former president in their custody.
The website said The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC (“the Prosecution”) applied for an arrest warrant on Feb. 10, 2025, “for the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and rape.”
“The Chamber, composed of Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera, found reasonable grounds to hold Duterte accountable for being “an indirect co-perpetrator” for creating the so-called Davao Death Squad and for his bloody drug war.
“Moreover, there are reasonable grounds to believe that this attack was both widespread and systematic,” the ICC added.
Duterte was already turned over to the ICC registrar in preparation for his detention. Meanwhile, his supporters held a lightning rally outside of the ICC detention center within the Dutch prison facility in Scheveningen.
