Duterte denied asylum in China before ICC arrest, says source who detailed arrest

China allegedly rejected Rodrigo Duterte’s request for asylum before he was arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to a source who provided details how the former president was arrested by Philippine authorities.

According to a 24 Oras report by Maki Pulido on Thursday, a trusted source said Philippine authorities have been preparing Duterte’s arrest and the implementation of an ICC arrest warrant since January as part of Oplan Tugis laid out by the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

According to the source, PNP chief Rommel Marbil commanded CIDG head Nicolas Torre to place Duterte under police custody as soon as the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Duterte for murder charges connected to crimes against humanity in connection with his deadly drug war.

On March 7, Duterte flew to Hong Kong to attend an event with Overseas Filipino Worker (OFWs). It was also the same day when ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 issued the warrant for his arrest. At this point, the PNP was already in close coordination with the International Police Criminal Organization (Interpol).

The source said the CIDG preferred to apprehend Duterte in Hong Kong but the Hong Kong Police Force refused to cooperate with Interpol as China is not a member or party to the Rome Statute.

Authorities continued to monitor Duterte’s activities via four CIDG agents up to his return to the country on March 11. It also said six members of the Hong Kong police escorted Duterte and made sure the former president boarded his flight back to the Philippines.

The same source said Duterte asked for asylum in China but was denied.  He reportedly had five confirmed bookings back to the Philippines. 

Back in the country, the source said CIDG conducted psychological warfare or “psy war” by deploying two battalions of the PNP Special Action Force (PNP SAF) to the Davao International Airport to discourage Duterte’s plans to land in the city that is considered his bailiwick. 

According to the source, Gen. Torre foresaw major difficulties if Duterte landed in Davao City and had to be arrested there so the CIDG leaked that a sizable police force was waiting for him.

At Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 where Duterte’s flight was set to arrive, authorities conducted at least four dry runs of his arrest. At the airport were 60 CIDG and 20 SAF personnel that would serve as the arresting team and provide security to the proceedings.

The CIDG also asked NAIA air traffic controllers to have Duterte’s plane taxi to Boarding Gate 116— the gate nearest the elevator that leads to the tarmac. Outside the terminal, PNP coasters were waiting to take the former president and his party to the neighboring Villamor Airbase. Once Duterte and his party were onboard, the police vehicles drove along the runway to Villamor where he was arrested.

Twelve hours after his arrival from Hong Kong, Duterte was a passenger of  a chartered passenger jet enroute to The Hague in the Netherlands to face the ICC. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News