Political prisoners in Negros Island hailed the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, calling it a long-overdue step toward justice for victims of state-sponsored violence under his regime.

“We, the political prisoners of Negros Island Region, stand with the Filipino people in welcoming the arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” they said in a statement released through KAPATID-Negros Occidental on March 12.

Duterte was arrested on March 11 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after arriving from Hong Kong. Police officers, acting on an ICC warrant citing crimes against humanity, brought him to Villamor Air Base in Pasay City before he was flown the same day to The Hague, Netherlands, to face trial.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan called Duterte’s arrest an “important moment” in the pursuit of justice for his crimes. “In issuing the warrant, the judges have found reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte has committed the crime of murder as the founder, as the head of the so-called Davao Death Squad as the Mayor of Davao City, and then later as the president of the Philippines between 2011 and 2019,” Khan said.

The Negros political prisoners linked Duterte’s arrest to his bloody counterinsurgency policies, particularly Memorandum Order 32, which intensified military operations in the province. They recalled how its implementation in 2018 led to the killing of six activists on December 27, followed by the massacre of 14 farmers on March 30, 2019, under the so-called Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO).

“This bloody war on dissent in Negros also resulted in many other incidents of extrajudicial killings,” they said, naming human rights defender Zara Alvarez, Escalante City Councilor Toto Patigas, people’s lawyers Benjamin Ramos and Mark Anthony Trinidad, and pro-poor doctors Mary Rose Sancelan and Avelex Amor among the many victims of state violence.

Aside from killings, the group decried Duterte’s policy of mass arrests and trumped-up charges against activists, which they said led to their prolonged unjust detention. “To this day, we remain behind bars—all 110 of us—enduring a system that criminalizes legitimate dissent and promotes only the interests of the ruling elite,” they said.

The political prisoners called for Duterte’s swift trial and conviction, warning against any delay in the legal proceedings. “Justice delayed is justice denied. All victims of his fascist regime deserve to see him face trial without further delay,” they said.

BAYAN Negros echoed this call, urging public pressure to ensure Duterte is convicted. “Justice will not be handed down from the courts alone. It must be fought for and won by the people,” the group said in a statement released March 12.

They also held Duterte accountable for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which they called a tool for red-tagging and corruption. “Generals and military officials pocketed billions through fake surrenderees and bogus development programs while using the task force to justify relentless attacks on the legal democratic movement,” BAYAN Negros said.

Both groups also warned that Duterte’s arrest must not be used by the Marcos administration to whitewash its own human rights violations. “The Marcoses cannot use Duterte’s downfall to cleanse their own bloodstained hands. We remember their crimes, both past and present,” BAYAN Negros said.

The political prisoners vowed to continue fighting for accountability, saying Duterte’s arrest should serve as a warning to all enablers of tyranny. “No one can escape the ever-raging flames of justice,” they said. “Always, we will choose to fight, we will dare to win.”

Outside Villamor Air Base, Duterte’s supporters gathered in protest, denouncing the ICC warrant and calling for his release. Meanwhile, in a video posted by his daughter Veronica, Duterte was seen questioning the legality of his arrest while inside the military facility before he was taken to The Hague.