Rodrigo Duterte, former Phillippines President, en route to the hague after arrest warrant.

A plane carrying the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has left Manila after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs".

He was taken into police custody shortly after his arrival at the capital's international airport from Hong Kong.

Duterte, 79, contested his detention but within hours was on a chartered jet en route to The Hague in the Netherlands, where the ICC sits.

During Duterte's time in office, thousands of small-time drug dealers, users and others were killed without trial.