Metro Manila, Philippines – The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, March 11, on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity grabbed world headlines.
International media latched on to the story as talks were rife on the possible arrest of the former president by the International Criminal Police Organization with the cooperation of local authorities after a visit to Hong Kong at the weekend for an event of his political party, PDP-Laban.
Worldwide coverage focused on the Duterte administration and alleged extrajudicial killings in his bloody drug war.
In the article, “Philippines ex-leader Duterte arrested on ICC warrant over drug killings,” the BBC recalled Duterte’s 2016 campaign where he compared himself to “Hitler” that would “wipe away three million drug addicts.”
CNN drew parallels in the “strongman” leadership of Duterte and US President Donald Trump. In particular, it said Duterte’s “shoot to kill” directive was a red flag for human rights groups on how the death toll from the anti-drug campaign spiked to 20,000.
Al Jazeera cited the ICC investigation in 2018 and how Duterte was defiant and even pulled the country out of the ICC in the same year for its comments on the drug war. The Philippines formally withdrew from the Rome Statute that created the ICC in March 2019.
Duterte’s arrest also hogged headlines in news outlets in Asia.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, The South China Morning Post in China, and Taiwan News in Taiwan published the return of the former president to the Philippines and his arrest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Duterte has been held in custody at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.
NewsWatch Plus intern Martha Mayoralgo contributed to this report.
