Former President Rodrigo Duterte leads the proclamation rally of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, on February 13, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday that former president Rodrigo Duterte remained a candidate for Davao City mayor despite his arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant tied to his deadly crackdown on drugs.

Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco made this clarification when asked by ABS-CBN News on whether Duterte’s name would still be in the official ballot for the May polls.

Laudiangco said that under the Omnibus Election Code, an individual with a pending case remains a candidate until his or her conviction reaches final judgement.

“Wala naman pong conviction with finality which carried with it the accessory penalty of disqualification/perpetual disqualification under Philippine Laws po by Philippine Courts or equivalent to such recognized by Philippine Judiciary,” Laudiangco said of Duterte.

Duterte faces a charge of "the crime against humanity of murder", according to the ICC, for a crackdown that rights groups estimate killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

War on drugs: The unheard voices

The plane carrying Duterte to The Hague in the Netherlands touched down in Dubai on Wednesday morning for a layover.

Lawyers for the former president said they had filed a Supreme Court petition on behalf of his youngest daughter, Veronica, accusing the government of "kidnapping", and demanding it be compelled "to bring him back".

Duterte daughter Kitty seeks his PH return

Vice President Sara Duterte, another daughter, left on a morning flight for Amsterdam.

The former president, meanwhile, said he believed the Philippine Supreme Court would step in and prevent his transfer.

"The Supreme Court will not agree to that. We do not have an extradition treaty," Duterte said on Instagram live after his lawyers filed a petition.

But no reprieve materialized.

An ICC spokesman confirmed the arrest warrant Tuesday and said an initial appearance hearing would be scheduled when Duterte was in court custody.

While supporters dubbed his arrest "unlawful", reactions from those who opposed Duterte's drug war were jubilant.

One group working to support mothers of those killed in the crackdown called the arrest a "very welcome development".

"The mothers whose husbands and children were killed because of the drug war are very happy because they have been waiting for this for a very long time," Rubilyn Litao, coordinator for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, told AFP.

Philippine rights alliance Karapatan said Duterte's arrest was "long overdue".

Duterte is still hugely popular among many in the Philippines who supported his quick-fix solutions to crime, and his family remains a potent political force.

Comelec’s Laudiangco noted that around 93 percent of the ballot requirements for the midterm polls have been printed. This figure translates to about 65.1 million printed ballots, he said. 

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— With a report from Agence France Presse