Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was today arrested at an airport for alleged crimes against humanity.

The controversial politician, 79, notorious for his bloody war on drugs, was detained upon arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila, at around 9:20 am on March 11.

Footage shows Duterte and his wife Honeylet Avancena being escorted into a police vehicle. He had returned to the country on Cathay Pacific flight CX907 after meeting with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong a day earlier.

Major General Nicholas Torre III, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, confirmed Duterte was arrested on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity.

The tough-talking strongman had earlier refused to deboard the plane, telling officials: 'You will just have to kill me. I refuse if you will just ally with the whites.'

In a video posted by his daughter Veronica, he questioned the basis of his detention while at Manila's Villamor Air Base.

He asked: 'What is the law and what is the crime that I committed? I was brought here not of my own volition, it is somebody else's. You have to answer now for the deprivation of liberty.'

The ICC was investigating Duterte over the thousands of alleged extrajudicial executions carried out during his term.

Police claimed around 6,000 drug suspects were killed during his signature anti-drug crackdown, though human rights groups said the number could be as high as 30,000.

Critics claim the free-for-all allowed murders to be committed with impunity, with rivals using the pretence of drugs to settle old scores.