WAS Rodrigo Duterte “kidnapped” as claimed by Teddy Locsin. Here’s my account in the updated version of my first book “KILL KILL KILL Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines; Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte Et. Al.” Copies of the revised version will be available before end-2025. Please read:
IT is not exactly exaggerated that many Filipinos felt jubilant when Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on that fateful morning of March 11, 2025 and, after a 13-hour standoff, flown by a chartered plane to the ICC headquarter in The Hague, The Netherlands. Many citizens did a spontaneous celebration of his arrest and departure; bottles of wine were uncorked while barrels of beer rolled and were quaffed in a midnight celebration that lasted till wee hours of the morning of the following day. This was something many Filipinos waited for almost a decade since the filing of the first information with the ICC in 2017. But it came like a swift, short, but crisp uppercut on Duterte’s brittle jaw, dazing him, his cohorts, and bands of supporters alike. Before that fateful day, Duterte looked invincible as he kept mocking the ICC and other entities promoting adherence to human rights.
Why not? When Duterte and his party quietly left left Hong Kong from a weekend meeting with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), mostly domestic helps, who are members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ cult of detained pastor Apollo Quiboloy, they did not have any inkling of the quiet but elaborate preparations the Philippine National Police (PNP) did to effect his arrest. Neither they had an inkling that the ICC finally issued an arrest warrant on March 7, 2025. It was not announced on the ICC website. Local mass media outfits denied any arrest warrant was issued. Duterte did not know it was issued and he felt complacent.
But immediately after the Cathay Pacific plane touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at around 9:20 am, a team of Filipino officials went up the plane to serve the ICC arrest warrant to a surprised Duterte. Cornered like a scalded cat, the former president resisted. It was expected. The arresting team of Filipino officials heard the resistance of lawyers, who accompanied Duterte in his weekend trip to Hong Kong. The team gave way to their opposition and they did not read Miranda’s Rights to Duterte. But, they agreed to whisk him off to the nearby Villamor Air Base ostensibly to thresh out the issues. A standoff ensued.
The arresting team was composed of retired Gen. Anthony Alcantara, executive director of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes (PCTC); Richard Fadullon, Prosecutor General of the Department of Justice; and Markus Lacanilao, the Special Envoy on Transnational Crimes, who served an representative of the International Police (Interpol). Gen. Rommel Marbil, then Director General of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre, then Director of the PNP Criminal Investigation Detective Group (CIDG), were below the plane, but they headed the PNP battalions that were assigned to secure the arresting team and Duterte.
Duterte’s arrest did not exist in vacuum; it had antecedents. His “war on drugs” policy was premised on EJKs, leading to the unlawful murder of thousands of suspected drug users and pushers. Although the Philippines has withdrawn officially from the Rome Statute, the multilateral treaty that has created the ICC, the ICC probe focused on crimes against humanity, which Duterte allegedly committed between November 11, 2011 to March 16, 2019, or the period the Philippines was a member-state of the ICC. Former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, former Rep. Gary Alejano and a host of others have filed crimes against humanity charges against Duterte and his cohorts for the unilateral withdrawal of the Philippines in 2018.
Although Duterte announced in 2018 the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC, citing “baseless, unprecedented, and outrageous attacks” against him and his administration and the withdrawal has become effective a year later, the ICC said it has maintained its jurisdiction over crimes committed before the withdrawal, or the period the Philippines was an ICC member-state. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant on Feb. 10, 2025 against Duterte for crimes against humanity. The ICC Pretrial Chamber was granted on March 7, 2025, but was made public on March 11, 2025.
Hence, Duterte was officially arrested at the NAIA on March 11, 2025 after returning from a Hong Kong trip. He resisted and was taken to the Villamor Air Base. After 13 hours of standoff, he was taken to a waiting plane and flown and transferred to the ICC headquarter in The Hague to face crimes against humanity charges before the ICC. The Marcos government insisted that it did not assist the ICC in arresting Duterte but merely complied with its request of the Interpol, of which the Philippines is a member. The ICC was said to have employed the Interpol to effect the arrest because the Philippines is no longer an ICC member.
In the absence of any official relations between the Philippines and the ICC, the Interpol was in the best position to assist the ICC in Duterte’s arrest. Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. used the country’s membership in the Interpol to justify Duterte’s arrest. Then Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla sustained the President’s statement, saying he merely complied with the mandate of the country’s membership in the Interpol. A small contingent of Interpol operatives was around to assist in his arrest, which was performed mainly by the PNP.
Duterte’s lawyers, which included Salvador Medialdea, who was his executive secretary when he was president, claimed that his arrest was “illegal” and “politically motivated.” The ex-president personally questioned the ICC’s jurisdiction, stating that he should be tried in a Philippine court. But the joint Interpol and PNP team did not listen and insisted on his arrest amid their protests at the Villamor Air Base. Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter, called it a “sort of state kidnapping.” Their voices fell on deaf ears. Nobody took them seriously.
The ICC’s investigation and Duterte’s arrest have significant implications for Philippine politics and the country’s relations with the international community. The case highlights the ongoing debate about accountability for human rights abuses and the role of international institutions in ensuring justice. Prior to his arrest, Duterte went to Hong Kong to attend a campaign rally at the Southern Stadium in the Wan Chai district. Most OFWs there were members of the Davao City-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KoJC) cult headed by its pastor, Apollo Quiboloy, who was earlier arrested for rape and human trafficking.
In his visit,Duterte expressed support for the senatorial candidates of his party, PDP-Laban in the May 12 midterm elections in the Philippines. Scores of OFWs attended the political event and cheered Duterte, who had the temerity to brush off speculations of the issuance of an ICC arrest warrant and his impending arrest on that basis. Speaking in an odd mixture of Cebuano (Bisaya) and Filipino (Tagalog), he said “If this is my fate in life, it’s OK, I’ll accept it. I can’t do anything if I get arrested and jailed.”
Duterte likewise denied he authorized EJKs, but openly admitted to having threatened suspected drug dealers during his incumbency. There were speculations that during his Hong Kong trip, his supporters sounded off China for a possible transfer to the mainland and issuance of political asylum to him and members of the second family, which included Cielo “Honeylet” Avancena and daughter Kiffy. But Beijing was said to have been cold to his purported message. China did not . wish to get embroiled in his controversies, it was said. It was an issue that has remained unresolved, as Beijing has not made any official confirmation to the speculations.
As word of Duterte’s arrest spread in social media and was later televised by local networks, scores of his supporters went first at the NAIA and later to the Villamor Air Base to create a facade of impending people power. But the PNP was amply prepared for this eventuality. It was not a coincidence that on this day, call phone signals suddenly lost at the Villamor Air Base area. Outside parties could not contact Duterte and his party. Sen. Christopher Go, a flunkey, openly complained that he could not get in touch with Duterte or any of his travel mates because his cell phone lost signal.
Go wanted to bring food to Duterte, claiming he was very hungry since he did not eat breakfast in Hong Kong. Arriving in the early afternoon, Go begged police officers at the gate to bring him boxes of pizza to his perceived master. “Gutom na gutom na siya. Tawag ng tawag (He’s very hungry and he keeps on calling us),” Go told the police officers at the gate. But they knew better because there was no way for Go to contact Duterte since there was no functioning signal at the Villamor Air Base area. Police officers at the gates denied him entry to join Duterte despite his official stature. Go could not do anything.
The extent of PNP preparations was not limited at NAIA and Villamor. On that day, hundreds of police officers were deployed at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City, Clark International Airport in Angeles City in Pampanga, and some other areas of Metro Manila mainly in anticipation of Duterte’s arrival. Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III confessed that Duterte had five other flight bookings on March 11. He and his party could go to any other place except NAIA. But because he thought no ICC arrest warrant was issued, he settled to go to NAIA.
At the arriving Cathay Pacific plane, Duterte’s lawyers succeeded to stop the arresting team from reading him the Miranda Rights, which would inform him of the alleged crimes imputed on him and his rights under the law. Torre later succeeded to read him the Miranda Rights at Villamor. This somehow confirmed that the Marcos government had taken the stand it would cooperate with the ICC while also asserting its sovereignty. Marcos has virtually surrendered Duterte to the ICC, but he would not admit it because the Philippines is no longer a member-state of the international body.
In a nutshell, Duterte’s arrest drew mixed reactions in the domestic community with some hailing it as a major step towards justice and accountability, while others condemned it as an affront to Philippine sovereignty. Human rights groups and families of victims have welcomed the arrest, saying it was a long-overdue victory against impunity.
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‘SMOOTH, TROUBLE FREE ARREST’
DUTERTE’S arrest on March 11, 2025, was a significant event that caught many off guard. It was unexpected amid rumors that an ICC arrest warrant was already issued. He was taken into custody upon arrival at the NAIA from a trip to Hong Kong. Some journalists described his arrest as “surrender to authorities” and it was “quick and trouble-free.” Certain observers, who were described as “analysts” said it was a “seismic” precedent-setting event.
Over 500 police officers, led by Marbil and Torre, were deployed at NAIA and Villamor to ensure a smooth arrest. DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla requested mostly female police officers to escort Duterte out of the airport en route to Villamor, as he and his DILG team anticipated outbursts from the short-fused Duterte against male police officers. Cielo “Honeylet” Avancena, the high profile common law wife of Duterte, caused some scenes at Villamor. She and daugter Kiffy accompanied Duterte to Hong Kong.
Avancena shouted at police officers, throwing invectives at them. At one point, she beat a woman police officer, causing a huge hump on her head. Torre said Avancena was uncooperative with police. She refused to give details of Duterte’s maintenance medicines in preparation for his plane trip, even as Duterte’s sugar level shot up to 320 milligrams from the maximum allowable of 120 milligrams. Moreover, she refused to accompany the fallen politician on his trip to The Hague, opting to stay here. She claimed she did not have a passport but police did not believe her since she was at Duterte’s party in Hong Kong.
A standoff lingered for hours, as Duterte and his legal team rejected his arrest. But the PNP appeared to have instituted several contingency measures to meet the volatile situation and that included fielding its reserve forces to help the main contingent. These were not all. Duterte’s lawyers and family claimed he was denied medical care while in custody at Villamor. But the government denied it, saying he was in good health. Torre said it was Avancena who made everything difficult for the PNP.
Six hours after his disembarkation from the Cathay Pacific plane that took him and his party back to NAIA, Duterte and Sen. Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa filed before the Supreme Court a 94-page joint petition for certiorari and prohibition with prayer for temporary restraining order or injunction. It was docketed as G. R. 278747 and an official copy was stamped to have been officially received by the High Court at 4:26 pm, or 34 minutes before the official close of business hours at 5:00 pm. March 11 was a Tuesday.
It was a cause of bewilderment in the legal community at the speed of its filing. The speed by which the comprehensive and technically demanding petition was prepared, completed, printed, and submitted was highly unusual, to say the least. It was extraordinarily speedy to the point of suspicion. Under normal legal practice and human experience, the drafting of a 94-page complying with the procedural and substantive requirements of a Supreme Court filing within a such limited time span is practically impossible, given the complexity of the involved issues and the required legal documentation, according to a critic.
If the petition was prepared when Duterte and his team arrived from Hong Kong and when he was being arrested, it would have required a legal team that worked with inordinate speed and coordination while simultaneously complying with the legal requirements of notarization, collation of annexes, and verification and certification under an oath, lawyers claimed. Besides, the copy of the petition was signed by Duterte while at Villamor and dela Rosa, who was at Davao City on that fateful day of Duterte’s arrest. The geographical disparity of those signings and inconsistencies raised questions on the authenticity of the petition.
There were views that the petition was prepared long before his arrest and it was taken off the files and printed on the specific day Duterte was arrested. In the view of many lawyers, it was inconceivable that it was prepared on March 11 and submitted shortly before the end of business hours. Strangely, the High Court did not act on it. What came out was fake news that the High Court granted a temporary restraining order (TRO), stopping his arrest and his eventual departure to the ICC headquarters in The Hague. Duterte lawyers were specifically named to that losing endeavor.
What they achieved was a temporary delay of Duterte’s trip to The Hague. The magistrates, who are in their 50s and 60s, did not bother to call an en banc sessilon to act on the petition. It died a natural death after Duterte was taken to The Hague shortly before midnight. Hence, it became moot.
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DEDICATION TO DUTY
THE standoff lasted nearly until midnight, as Duterte and his team kept on resisting his arrest. They waited for the TRO from the High Court but it never came. All the Duterte camp received was a steady stream of fake news. But there was no official copy of a supposed TRO from the Supreme Court. When the High Court’s inaction became obvious, it was Torre’s turn to enforce his arrest.
The big and burly but unhealthy Medialdea tried to stop Torres’s arrest of Duterte. Torre did not give up. Instead, he arrested Medialdea for what he claimed as obstruction of justice on his part. Torre even read him his Miranda Rights. Torre claimed in his TV interviews that he put handcuffs on Medialdea. Duterte saw that Torre was not in any way and told Torre he was willing to ride the plane and go so long as he would not arrest his former executive secretary.
That was how it ended.
