The Philippine National Police is ready to assist the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in arresting former President Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant, a source told The Manila Times.
According to the report dated Monday, March 10, at least 7,000 police officers will be mobilized to arrest Duterte. The source also said the PNP is securing main entry points to the country in anticipation of Duterte’s arrival from Hong Kong.
In a Teleradyo Serbisyo interview on Monday morning, PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo said that the PNP does not yet have a verifiable source for the arrest warrant and has not yet received an official copy of the red notice. She also said that the PNP can only take orders from the chief general and the Department of Justice, not the president.
The Malacañang has not issued an official statement regarding the arrest warrant. But on Sunday, March 9, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Jay Ruiz said, “We’ve heard that an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court against former President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity.” He added that the government is “prepared for any eventuality.”
According to Rappler, rumors of an arrest warrant began floating around late February 2025. He reportedly departed Manila for Hong Kong on Friday, March 7. Salvador Panelo, former chief presidential legal counsel, said that Duterte only flew to Hong Kong to thank overseas Filipino workers for their support.
On Sunday, he and his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, appeared at a PDP-Laban rally in the city-state to support their senatorial slate for the 2025 elections. At the rally, the former president said that he had heard of the arrest warrant. “If I’m arrested, if I’m detained, so be it,” he said.
Drug War Investigations
Duterte has been under investigation for extrajudicial killings linked to his administration’s war on drugs. Article 7 of the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as acts “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.” This includes but is not limited to murder, extermination, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, and enforced disappearance of persons.
According to the ICC website, its investigation covers “any alleged crime within the jurisdiction of the Court, including but not limited to the crime against humanity of murder” committed in the country from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019 — the period when the Philippines was a state party to the Rome Statute.
Human rights organization Human Rights Watch and ICC estimate that 12,000 to 30,000 were killed in the war on drugs between July 2016 and March 2019.
The Senate also conducted a hearing on the war on drugs in October 2024. As a resource speaker, Duterte said he told police officers to encourage suspects to fight back to justify killing said suspects. In a hearing at the House of Representatives, former Duterte aide and retired police Colonel Royina Garma revealed that officers were rewarded for killing drug suspects.
In the same hearing, Duterte said, “I am asking the ICC to hurry up, and if possible, they can come here and start the investigation tomorrow. This issue has been left hanging for many years, baka mamatay ako, hindi na nila ako imbestiga.”
The ICC wrapped up its investigations into the war on drugs in November 2024 and had already moved on to a new phase, according to former Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares. In December 2024, the ICC launched a witness appeal website to gather more evidence and witnesses for the trial.
In January 2025, The New York Times reported that former Davao Death Squad (DDS) hitman Edgar Matobato fled the country to an undisclosed destination in order to testify before the ICC.
The ICC and Interpol have not confirmed the issuance of an arrest warrant and a trial date.
