Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been flown to the Netherlands to face a trial over alleged crimes against humanity.

Footage shows the drugs war madman, 79, boarding a jet while surrounded by police and emotional supporters at the Villamor Air Base in Manila, on March 11 evening.

The chartered plane arrived in Dubai for a layover this morning, March 12, and is expected to depart for Rotterdam The Hague Airport.

Strongman Duterte was arrested on March 11 morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity.

He had initially refused to disembark the plane upon arrest, telling officials: 'You will just have to kill me. I refuse if you will just ally with the whites.'

He was later seen boarding a police vehicle with his wife Honeylet Avancena and daughter Veronica. He had returned to the country on Cathay Pacific flight CX907 after meeting with overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong a day earlier.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a former ally and now political rival of the influential Duterte family, defended the government's role in Duterte's arrest.

He said: 'Interpol asked for help and we obliged because we have commitments to the Interpol which we have to fulfill. If we don't do that, they will no longer help us with other cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad. We cannot say no to Interpol when they ask us to catch a wanted individual.'

Duterte is the architect of the country's notorious bloody war on drugs, which police claimed saw more than 6,000 drug suspects killed. However, human rights groups said the alleged extrajudicial executions reached up to 30,000.

In 2018, Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it began investigating alleged human rights abuses linked to his war on drugs. He had argued that the ICC had no jurisdiction over the Philippines and accused it of being biased.