Furious drug war victims held a rally as they clamoured for the imprisonment of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who was arrested over alleged crimes against humanity.

Footage shows the protesters gathered at the Welcome Rotonda roundabout in Metro Manila, hours after the strongman, 79, was detained at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11.

They carried banners and flags that read 'Jail Duterte! Hold Duterte accountable!'

They later held a candlelit prayer to mourn the victims of Duterte's bloody crackdown on drugs.

Protester Stum Casia said: 'Duterte is lucky that he can defend himself in court. Many of the drug war victims cannot speak from their graves.'

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 notoriously 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, he 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.