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Duterte seen boarding passenger jet at Villamor Air Base

Article (news)

Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17416991849421741699226709.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Contributed photo"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em>Contributed photo</em> </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA  (<strong>4th </strong><strong></strong><strong>UPDATE</strong>) -- The Gulfstream G550 jet bringing former President Rodrigo Duterte to the Hague, where he will face trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC), took off at 11:03 p.m. from Villamor Air Base, according to flightradar24.com. </p><p>The chartered long-range business jet aircraft taxied at around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night, according to video footage shared on Facebook by a retired police officer.</p><p>A separate video earlier shared on Facebook by retired police general Filmore Bondilles Escobal showed police officers surrounding Duterte while he was boarding the aircraft. </p><p>Former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea was also seen boarding the plane.</p><p>An unidentified person can be heard speaking in the background: &quot;PRRD dadalhin sa Netherlands, inaresto ng banyaga. Ito pulis na ito ng Hague.&quot;</p><p>A photo contributed to ABS-CBN News shows Duterte and Medialdea seated inside the aircraft.</p><p>According to publicly available data from flightradar24.com, the Gulfstream G550 aircraft with tail number RP-C5219, where Duterte was seen boarding, has a flight plan from Manila to Dubai, to the Rotterdam Airport in the Netherlands. </p><p>According to Atty. Martin Delgra III, Duterte’s counsel, the former president is accompanied by his nurse personal assistant and Medialdea inside the plane.</p><p>&quot;We cannot go near the plane. Plane still on tarmac with door open,&quot; Delgra told a group chat open to journalists on messaging app Viber.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-RZFKMltzzA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>The Office of the Vice President told reporters that Sara Duterte was at Gate 1 of Villamor Airbase, but &quot;was denied entry.&quot;</p><p>Duterte was arrested by police officers on Tuesday morning, acting on a warrant from the ICC over his war on drugs, shortly after he arrived in the Philippines from Hong Kong. </p><p>Duterte, 79, faces a charge of &quot;the crime against humanity of murder&quot;, according to the ICC, for the crackdown in which rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/what-we-know-about-ex-president-rodrigo-dutertes-arrest-1718">What we know about ex- president Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s arrest</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/11/dozens-of-cops-at-naia-ahead-of-rodrigo-duterte-s-expected-arrival-0951">Ex-President Duterte arrested on ICC warrant for alleged crimes against humanity</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/war-on-drugs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">War on Drugs, The Unheard Voices | ABS-CBN News</a></div><div><strong>&#x27;THIS IS KIDNAPPING&#x27;</strong></div><p>Duterte earlier declined to be flown to the Hague in the Netherlands to face trial before the ICC, saying that it no longer has jurisdiction over the Philippines.</p><p>Duterte — who earlier said that he is ready to face arrest — told police officials at the Villamor Air Base he would only face charges before a Philippine court.</p><p>&quot;ICC is out of the question… We are not a signatory of the ICC. Diyan ako hindi papayag,&quot; the former president said, as heard through an Instagram livestream conducted by his daughter, Veronica.</p><p>&quot;I am a Filipino, you are all Filipino. Ako, pag nagkasala, you prosecute me in Philippine courts with a Filipino judge, with a Filipino prosecutor at magpakulong ako sa bayan ko kung sakali,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That is kidnapping,&quot; Duterte said</p><p>The former President added he is certain that the Supreme Court would eventually block orders to take him to The Hague.</p><p>&quot;If you detain me there, you have to start a machinery of justice,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I am sure the Supreme Court will rebuke them. Hindi papayag ang Supreme Court… Wala tayong extradition treaty at saka nag-withdraw na tayo. Bakit mo ako dadalhin doon sa international body na hindi na tayo miyembro? That is a big question,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Whether rightly or wrongly ang decision na mag withdraw tayo sa ICC the fact that we are already not a member so dapat intindihin ng mga abogado yan,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it has raffled off the petition for Temporary Restraining Order filed by Duterte and Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, in relation to the arrest warrant issued by the ICC.</p><p>In a statement, the Supreme Court said a special raffle has been conducted due to the significance of the case. It has yet to issue a TRO.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s arrest stems from an ICC arrest order for the former president to be put on trial for allegedly committing crimes against humanity, but the Davaoeño politician&#x27;s  camp maintained that no warrant was served during his arrest.</p><p>The case stems from the thousands of extrajudicial killings recorded under Duterte&#x27;s presidency, when he repeatedly ordered the police — in public speeches — to kill drug users and peddlers. The policy saw the deaths of minors and by-passers who were allegedly identified as drug suspects without due process. -- <strong>with reports from Victoria Tulad and Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse</strong></p><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V9B7jxDkEIg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Gulfstream G550 jet bringing former President Rodrigo Duterte to the Hague, where he will face trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC), took off at 11:03 p.m. from Villamor Air Base, according to flightradar24.com.</p>

The Gulfstream G550 jet bringing former President Rodrigo Duterte to the Hague, where he will face trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC), took off at 11:03 p.m. from Villamor Air Base, according to flightradar24.com.

Gulfstream jet carrying Duterte leaves Villamor for The Hague

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Gulfstream jet carrying Duterte leaves Villamor for The Hague

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 11, 2025 09:20 PM PHT

|

Updated March 12, 2025 09:34 AM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

International Criminal Court

crimes against humanity

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