Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he takes full responsibility for his “war on drugs” as he braces for a legal battle at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged crimes against humanity.
In a video message posted on his Facebook account, and viewed 10 million times, Duterte said it will be a “long” legal battle at the ICC, which took him into custody as his charter flight landed at Rotterdam The Hague airport on Wednesday evening.
He was transferred to a detention unit on the Dutch coast.
The ICC, in a statement, said it found “reasonable grounds to believe that Duterte “is individually responsible as an indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder,” allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 2011 and March 2019.
Duterte’s “war on drugs” is said to have killed thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others without trial.
The video that appeared to have been recorded inside the plane showed only Duterte speaking while wearing a plain white shirt.
Duterte was put on a chartered flight to The Hague on Tuesday to face trial after he was arrested at Manila International Airport upon his arrival from Hong Kong.
The plane made a stopover in Dubai before it continued to The Hague.
“Whatever happened in the past, I will be the front of our law enforcement and the military. I said this already, that I will protect you, and I will be responsible for everything,” the 79-year old former Philippine leader said in the over two-minute video.
“This will be a long legal proceeding, but I say to you, I will continue to serve my country. And so be it, if that is my destiny,” he added.
He assured his supporters he is well.
“I am okay, do not worry,” the 79-year-old former Philippine leader said.
Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
His daughter, Sara Duterte, the Philippine vice president, also arrived in The Hague on Wednesday to help arrange a legal team for her father.