Rodrigo Duterte previously insisted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, since he pulled the country out of the tribunal in 2019, three years after it took note of the drug war's rising death toll.

Duterte, who was arrested at a Manila airport following a trip to Hong Kong, was flown via a Gulfstream G550 private jet to Dubai and then Rotterdam. He will be brought to The Hague, where the ICC is headquartered, if a local Dutch court determines the arrest is valid, according to a Philippine government spokesperson.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he takes full responsibility for his administration's "war on drugs", in a video message posted on his Facebook account, as he braces for a legal battle at the International Criminal Court.