Flight carrying former Philippine president Duterte to Hague departs

Manila: A flight carrying former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte left Manila bound for The Hague on Tuesday, according to AFP journalists at the airport, hours after his arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly war on drugs.

"Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte took off at 11:03 pm this evening and exited Philippine airspace," President Ferdinand Marcos confirmed during a press briefing shortly after takeoff. 

"The plane is en route to The Hague in the Netherlands allowing the former president to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his bloody war on drugs."

Supporters of former Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte shout slogans as they gather outside the Villamor Air Base in Pasay, Metro Manila on March 11, 2025.  (Photo by Jam Sta Rosa / AFP)

VP Sara Duterte denied entry to see her father

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte arrived at the Villamor Air Base in the Philippine capital on Tuesday night but failed to see her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been aboard a jet bound for the Netherlands.

The vice president spoke to reporters at the air base while the plane was waiting to take off more than one hour after the ex-president boarded the chartered plane.

Sara Duterte earlier said in a statement that her detained father was "forcibly taken to The Hague," hours after the former Philippine leader was detained at Manila airport after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest related to his "war on drugs" campaign.

Sara's younger sister, Veronica, also said in a social media post that "They took my dad from us, put him on a plane, and wouldn't say where to."

Duterte’s former legal adviser Salvador Panelo described the arrest as “unlawful” saying that the former Philippine leader was “deprived of legal representation at the time of his arrest”.