Opponents of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's drug war staged a protest following his arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Footage shows furious university students chanting to 'convict Duterte now' as they marched along Katipunan Avenue in the capital Metro Manila, on March 14.

They carried banners slamming both the Duterte family as well as current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who they accuse of handing over the strongman to 'foreign powers'.

Duterte - who once boasted of throwing a rival out of a helicopter to his death - was arrested on March 11 morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a warrant issued by the ICC in the Hague.

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 the strongman's arrest.

He said: 'Interpol asked for help and we obliged because we have commitments to Interpol which we have to fulfil. 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 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.

The ICC has set the confirmation of charges hearing for the maverick leader on September 23.