Self-professed killer earned infamy abroad but was hugely popular at home

The Philippines' former president Rodrigo Duterte earned international infamy for the deadly narcotics crackdown that led to his arrest on March 11 on charges of crimes against humanity, despite enjoying huge popularity at home.

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A tough-talking populist and self-professed killer, Mr Duterte's anti-crime campaign resulted in the deaths of thousands of alleged dealers and addicts.

Yet, while drawing condemnation abroad, tens of millions of Filipinos backed his swift brand of justice, even as he joked about rape in his rambling speeches, locked up his critics and failed to root out entrenched corruption.

That trust was dented by the coronavirus pandemic, which plunged the Philippines into its worst economic crisis in decades, leaving thousands dead and millions jobless with a slow-paced vaccine roll-out.

Mr Duterte's woes deepened in 2021, when the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sought an investigation into crimes against humanity during his crackdown on drugs.

Mr Duterte, now 79, has repeatedly said there was no official campaign to illegally kill addicts and dealers, but his speeches included incitements to violence, and he told the police to kill drug suspects if their lives were in danger.