Rodrigo Duterte arrives in Dubai for layover

The plane carrying former President Rodrigo Duterte after he was served a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has arrived in Dubai for a layover.

According to flightradar.com, Gulfstream G550 aircraft (RP-C5219) arrived at the Al Maktoum International Airport at 4:03 a.m. (Dubai time) or 8:03 a.m. Manila time.

The plane left the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, Philippines on Tuesday at 11:03 p.m.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. late Tuesday night announced that Duterte was being brought to The Hague in the Netherlands to face charges in connection with the killings in the past administration's war on drugs.

"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,'' said the President.

After more than an hour or at 5:15 a.m. (Dubai time), the same plane is expected to fly to Rotterdam The Hague Airport. 

Arrest warrant

Marcos said Interpol Manila received an official copy of the International Criminal Court warrant hours before Duterte's arrival from Hong Kong.

He added that the arrest was proper and correct.

“We followed every single necessary procedure… We followed the legal procedure that is necessary,” Marcos said.

He said that the arrest was done “because Interpol asked us to do it and we have commitments.”

Marcos also denied that the arrest of Duterte was a violation of Philippine sovereignty.

''No. Bakit naman? Dahil, consistent naman tayo, hindi tayo tumutulong sa imbestigasyon ng ICC... We did not help them in any way,'' Marcos said.

(We've been consistent. We didn't help in the investigation of the ICC... We didn't help them in any way.)

The ICC has been investigating Duterte and other top officials of his administration for crimes against humanity over the alleged systematic drug war deaths in police operations.

These deaths reached around 6,000 based on police records, but human rights groups contend that the deaths were as much as 30,000, including vigilante killings.

'State Kidnapping'

Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president's daughter, described the move as a form of "state kidnapping."

“Sinasabi ko sa inyong lahat Pilipino kayo 'wag kayong pumayag na ang isang Pinoy ibigay sa mga dayuhan lalo na pag labas na sa batas 'yun. This is actually some sort of state kidnapping. Parang ganyan na nangyayari,” Duterte told the media.

(I’m telling you all, Filipinos, don't let a Filipino be taken away by foreigners, especially if it has no legal basis. This is actually some sort of state kidnapping. That seems to be what’s going on.)

“And all because mukhang matatalo sila midterm elections dahil ang lakas ng vote straight sa ating candidate sa PDP Laban,” she added.

(And all because it looks like they will lose the midterm election because voting straight in the PDP Laban is strong.)

The former chief executive previously reiterated that he wanted to be prosecuted in his home country.

“Ako pag nagkasala, you prosecute me in Philippine courts, with the Philippine judge, the Filipino prosecutor, and magpakulong ako sa bayan ko kung sakali,” he said.

(If I commit a crime, you prosecute me in Philippine courts, with the Philippine judge, the Filipino prosecutor, and I will get imprisoned in my own country, if needed.)

He also reiterated that the ICC has no right to prosecute him concerning the extrajudicial killings during his administration after the Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2018. —VAL, GMA Integrated News