‘Not about vengeance’: Duterte now has to answer to EJK victims’ families, says De Lima

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March 11, 2025 | 3:22pm

MANILA, Philippines — “This is not about vengeance. This is about justice finally taking its course.”

This was how former senator Leila De Lima described the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte was arrested by authorities at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), where he was served a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), as transmitted by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

“Today, Duterte is being made to answer—not to me, but to the victims, to their families, to a world that refuses to forget,” she said. 

“I faced my case, knowing I was innocent. I stood before the courts because I had nothing to hide. Duterte now has to answer for his actions, not in the court of public opinion, but before the rule of law. This is how justice should work—those in power must be held to the same standards as everyone else,” she said. 

De Lima said Duterte’s arrest was “deeply personal” for her.

She had been one of Duterte’s staunchest critics during his administration. In turn, Duterte accused her of involvement in the illegal drug trade, leading to her imprisonment for nearly seven years on what she maintained were trumped-up charges.

“For almost seven years, I was imprisoned on fabricated charges, accused of crimes I did not commit—all because I dared to speak out against Duterte’s drug war. While I was behind bars, thousands of Filipinos were killed without justice, their families left to grieve with no answers, no accountability,” she said.

Human rights groups in the Philippines and abroad condemned De Lima’s imprisonment. While she was eventually acquitted during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., she lamented the years she lost in detention.

Duterte was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity filed by the ICC.

The former president has openly claimed responsibility for the deaths during his drug war. He has also admitted to ordering police to provoke drug suspects into fighting back—justifying their killings.

While Duterte had previously insisted he was not afraid of the ICC, he decried his arrest.

As officials apprehended him at NAIA, Duterte told them: “You will just have to kill me.”