MANILA -- Salon worker Christine Pascual was tending to a customer when she heard the news that former President Rodrigo Duterte was detained at the airport in Manila on March 11, after being issued a warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court.

She teared up at the news, thinking she was one step closer to achieving justice for her son, Joshua Laxamana, a 17-year-old gamer who was killed during a police operation in 2018.

According to police reports shared with local media, Joshua Laxamana was riding a motorcycle and reportedly shot back at the police when he ignored a checkpoint in Pangasinan Province.

Pascual believes her son was mistaken for a criminal syndicate member because of the tattoos on his arm, which she said was a character of a game his son loved to play with his friends.

The 41-year-old mother of three said her son was on his way home from a tournament in northern Philippines when the police killed him. She mentioned only hearing the news of her son's death a week after he went missing.

"He suffered six gunshot wounds and the police told me that he fought back, that he was riding a motorbike when he had no means to get one. You can see how the kid suffered when he was killed," Pascual said.

She recalled how Joshua was very a considerate boy and believes he would not do anything untoward to any person or join any gangs.

"I know I brought him up well.... I told them (my children) it didn't matter if I kept working hard, as long as you don't turn out to be bad children, she said.

In 2019, Pascual decided to travel to Manila and make a living for her two remaining children. She also took this opportunity to join protests and become part of movements aimed at helping families of victims get justice.

Pascual said seeking justice for her son's death has been an arduous task but hopes Duterte's arrest would eventually lead to accountability over her son's death.

"At least for a little bit, the pain he (Joshua) received has eased a bit. He has not totally received justice because the police who killed him have not been arrested, and they just started with Duterte, but I am waiting for the time when the culprits behind my son's death are behind bars," Pascual said.

Duterte is set to be the first former Asian head of state to go on trial at the ICC after he was arrested on March 11 and sent to The Hague, where he faces accusations of murder as a crime against humanity over a "war on drugs" that killed thousands of people and defined his six year presidency that ended in 2022.

His war on drugs was the signature campaign platform that swept Duterte to power in 2016. During his six years in office, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations, by the police's count. Activists say the real toll was far greater.

Duterte has long insisted he instructed police to kill only in self-defense and has always defended the crackdown, repeatedly telling his supporters he was ready to "rot in jail" if it meant ridding the Philippines of illicit drugs.

(Production: Peter Blaza, Lisa Marie David, Artorn Pookasook)