Last weekend, Rodrigo Duterte rallied thousands of cheering Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong on his first overseas trip in years. Upon his return to Manila on Tuesday, he joined a rare club of ex-leaders arrested for breaching international law.

Police greeted the former Philippine president at the airport to execute a warrant from Interpol after the International Criminal Court ordered his arrest following a probe into the deadly drug war that defined his rule. Video showed officers escorting the 79-year-old politician as he walked with a cane through the terminal.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said a plane carrying Duterte has left the country for The Hague, where the ex-leader will face charges of crimes against humanity. He defended the government’s action, saying it was in compliance with Manila’s commitments to Interpol.

“We followed all the legal procedures that are necessary so I am confident that if in further examination you will find that it is proper and correct,” Marcos told a briefing late Tuesday. He denied that the move was a case of “political persecution” amid an ongoing feud with the Duterte family.

The dramatic scenes, which sent stocks tumbling, marked the end of a yearslong quest by human rights campaigners to hold Duterte to account for an anti-narcotics campaign during his presidency from 2016 to 2022 that killed more than 6,000 people.

The ICC said in a statement that one of its pretrial chambers issued an arrest warrant for Duterte “for charges of the crime of murder as a crime against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines” between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019, which covers parts of his presidency and his time as mayor and vice mayor of Davao.

The court added that an initial appearance hearing will be scheduled once he’s in custody, without providing further information.

The timing of his arrest coincides with increased political tensions with Marcos and comes shortly before legislative elections in May.

Last month, his daughter Sara Duterte was impeached as vice president by Marcos allies in the House of Representatives on charges she plotted to kill the president and misused public funds — accusations she has denied. A Senate trial, which would determine if she will be removed from office, is scheduled to begin in July.

“Since ICC has no enforcement power and would rely on the cooperation of the member state, if the two clans were in good terms, the administration would never allow the enforcement of the arrest warrant within Philippine soil,” said Leo Camacho, a constitutional expert and lecturer at the Ateneo School of Law in Manila. “Things changed when the alliance broke apart.”

It’s a stunning blow to Duterte, once frequently referred to as the Donald Trump of Asia for his radical leadership style. He is now the first former Asian leader to be served an arrest warrant over charges filed at the ICC.

The Philippines’ benchmark stock index fell more than 2% on Tuesday, the most among Asian equity gauges and its biggest drop since Jan. 31. The peso was up 0.3% against the dollar.

Duterte petitioned the Supreme Court on Tuesday to halt enforcement of the ICC arrest order, saying it has no automatic legal effect in the country.

The Philippines under Duterte withdrew from the ICC in 2019. The decision was affirmed by Marcos shortly after he assumed office in 2022, saying the nation had no intention of rejoining The Hague-based court.

Yet in a change of tone last year as the Marcos-Duterte feud deepened, the government said it would cooperate if the ICC refers the process to Interpol and seeks the Philippines’ help.

Duterte questioned the legal basis of his arrest. “I was brought here not of my own volition,” he said in a video posted on daughter Veronica Duterte’s Facebook page. “It’s somebody else’s. What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also weighed in on the arrest, with a spokesman telling reporters Tuesday that the ICC should follow the law and “avoid politicization and double standards.”

The ICC holds accountable those who commit acts of mass inhumanity. It can pursue cases when a country asks for an investigation within its territory or of its citizens, when the UN Security Council requests a probe, or when an ICC panel of judges authorizes an inquiry initiated by the court’s prosecutor.

The ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November for what it called “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

While the arrest warrant is likely to limit the countries to which Netanyahu can travel without fear of arrest, it’s unlikely he’ll ever face trial. Israel has said it will appeal the ICC ruling. U.S. President Donald Trump called the warrant “baseless” and authorized sanctions on ICC officials who investigate the United States and its allies.

More than a dozen Rodrigo Duterte supporters were at the airbase’s gate on Tuesday, some livestreaming the event, while political allies including two senatorial candidates arrived to show support. At least four truckloads of anti-riot police guarded a gate of the airbase.

Duterte had planned to run again for mayor of his hometown Davao City in the May midterm election. Duterte said this week he’s ready to go to jail if the ICC orders his arrest. He has also defended his legacy-defining drug war, telling supporters at a Hong Kong stadium that he did it for them and their children.

“If that’s my fate, that’s fine I will accept it,” Duterte told supporters on Sunday in Hong Kong, according to a video posted on Facebook by broadcaster Bombo Radyo. “We can’t do anything if I’m arrested or imprisoned.”

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(With assistance from Cecilia Yap, Philip J. Heijmans, Manolo Serapio Jr., Ditas Lopez and Sarah Jacob.)

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