20250311 duterte presser



MANILA — After years of investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested Tuesday in connection with a campaign against illegal drugs that claimed the lives of thousands of Filipinos.

Here is a timeline of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, and the investigation that culminated in his arrest.

May 9, 2016 Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is elected president of the Philippines, after running on a pledge to decentralize power from Manila, the capital, and to take a hard line against crime, including drug use and trafficking.

June 30, 2016 In his inaugural address, Duterte says he will adhere to due process and the rule of law in conducting a war on drugs.

January 2017 More than 7,000 people are estimated to have been killed by police or vigilantes in antidrug operations during the first six months of Duterte’s term

February 2018 Former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opens a preliminary examination of the deaths.

March 17, 2018 The Philippines notifies the ICC of its intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the court’s founding treaty, in a year’s time.

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Protesters against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war hold a candlelight vigil in Manila on Aug. 25, 2017.   © Reuters

Sept. 15, 2021 The ICC’s pretrial chamber approves the launch of an investigation into alleged crimes committed in Davao during Duterte’s mayorship, as well as elsewhere in the Philippines during his presidency up to March 16, 2019, when the Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC.

May 9, 2022 Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is elected president on a unity ticket, with Duterte’s daughter, Sara, as vice president.

June 2022 Rodrigo Duterte’s term as president ends.

July 2024 Sara Duterte resigns from the Marcos cabinet, signaling a growing rift between the two powerful political families.

Oct. 28, 2024 A Philippine Senate blue-ribbon committee begins a special investigation on the drug war. Duterte admits in testimony that he maintained a “death squad” to carry out extrajudicial killings while mayor of Davao City.

November 2024 Marcos allies in the legislature revive probes into Sara Duterte’s use of secret funds as vice president and education secretary.

March 11, 2025 Philippine National Police arrest Duterte at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, acting on a warrant issued by the ICC.