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The visit had been advertised for weeks. Former President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines was going to a rally in Hong Kong during the second weekend in March. But as soon as it began, the trip took on a tantalizing element of intrigue: Was he ever coming back?<\/p>\n
To many Filipinos, it appeared that Mr. Duterte was trying to outrun justice. The International Criminal Court, a sudden swirl of speculation in the Philippines posited, was about to seek his arrest, years after it started investigating the deadly antidrug campaign<\/a> he had overseen as president and as mayor of Davao. By being in Hong Kong, the theory went, Mr. Duterte would remain free because China is not a member of the court.<\/p>\n Soon after Mr. Duterte, 79, landed in Hong Kong on March 7, the I.C.C. issued a sealed warrant for him. But wind of the move reached him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Over that weekend in Hong Kong, his entourage \u2014 which included his partner, Honeylet Avance\u00f1a, and daughter Sara Duterte, the current vice president \u2014 debated whether to stay in Chinese territory or return home, according to two Philippine officials and a former lawmaker who spoke on the record and cited Philippines intelligence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Salvador Panelo, his lawyer, disputed that account, saying Mr. Duterte had not even discussed seeking asylum in China. \u201cWhy would Duterte escape?\u201d he said. \u201cAt his age, he no longer cares about what is going to happen to him.\u201d<\/p>\n In public, Mr. Duterte stuck to his usual bluster. At the rally that Sunday<\/a>, he told a throng of mostly Filipino women that if being arrested by the I.C.C. was his fate in life, he would accept it. His allies made pronouncements that he would be back in the Philippines that Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.<\/p>\n It was a bluff.<\/p>\n Mr. Duterte\u2019s group had booked five flights back to Manila that day to obfuscate their actual arrival. And there was a private jet waiting at the airport for Mr. Duterte, presumably to take him on to his stronghold of Davao in the south, said Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III and Antonio Trillanes, a former senator who filed a complaint against Mr. Duterte<\/a> with the I.C.C. in 2017. (Mr. Panelo, Mr. Duterte\u2019s lawyer, denied this.)<\/p>\n Mr. Duterte landed around 9:30 a.m., hours before his camp had telegraphed. But he was detained soon after and, by the end of the day, shipped off to The Hague<\/a>, where he is awaiting trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This account of that day, much of it previously unreported, is based on recollections from General Torre, Mr. Trillanes and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, as well as public statements from Mr. Duterte and interviews with three of his allies.<\/p>\n It was perhaps the most high-profile arrest<\/a> for the I.C.C. For the relatives of the tens of thousands of victims of Mr. Duterte\u2019s drug war, it was, finally, a tangible step toward justice<\/a>. And it is likely to define the presidency of the current leader, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Thousands of protesters have since accused Mr. Marcos of persecuting Mr. Duterte, his predecessor and onetime ally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The gravity of the day seemed clear to Mr. Marcos. \u201cThere is no reason to be happy,\u201d Mr. Marcos told Mr. Remulla. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Marcos was elected president in 2022, succeeding Mr. Duterte. He rose to power after forming an alliance with Sara Duterte, who won the race for vice president. Initially, he said that he would not cooperate with the I.C.C.\u2019s investigation of Mr. Duterte\u2019s drug war because his predecessor had withdrawn the Philippines from the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But relations between Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte soured soon, and he changed course on the I.C.C. In 2024, the Philippine Congress started an inquiry into the former president\u2019s war on drugs. But Mr. Duterte still seemed untouchable, years after he first condoned thousands of summary executions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Justice, many Filipinos hoped, would come from overseas. Mr. Marcos\u2019s government was also expecting the I.C.C. to seek Mr. Duterte\u2019s arrest. The Philippine police had prepared a secret 80-page plan called \u201cOperation Pursuit\u201d on how to detain Mr. Duterte. It included scenarios of arresting him in Manila or Davao, according to a copy that was viewed by The New York Times.<\/p>\n It also had maps of properties belonging to Mr. Duterte, his partner and his allies, with arrows labeling the nearby streets.<\/p>\n In The Hague, I.C.C. prosecutors applied for a warrant<\/a> for Mr. Duterte on Feb. 10, accusing him of crimes against humanity. It was issued nearly four weeks later<\/a> and the Philippine authorities received it via Interpol early on March 11. That cleared the way for Mr. Duterte\u2019s detention because the Philippines was still a member of Interpol.<\/p>\n At about 9.30 a.m., Mr. Duterte landed in Manila on Cathay Pacific flight 907. Mr. Duterte, who often uses a cane, was waiting for his wheelchair when an official boarded the plane and told him that he would be arrested on an Interpol warrant on behalf of the I.C.C.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou would have to kill me first, if you are going to ally with white foreigners,\u201d he told<\/a> the official.<\/p>\nAn 80-Page Plan<\/h2>\n
\u2018My Children Will Go After You\u2019<\/h2>\n