Protesters gathered outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, during the opening of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s pre-trial hearing on crimes against humanity charges related to his deadly narcotics crackdown.

Duterte, however, failed to appear at the ICC in person on Friday night (Philippine time). He participated in the hearing via video link, speaking briefly to confirm his name and date of birth.

One protester at The Hague, Lean Jimenez, told the DAILY TRIBUNE that they had already anticipated Duterte and his camp would “peddle the narrative of him being frail and sick to draw sympathy.”

"He can act all he wants, but we will not be fooled. This is the same man [who] commanded the state police to kill suspected drug dealers without respecting due process," Jimenez said.

"Due process that is something he is lucky to have been afforded right now, something he denied from the tens of thousands that fell victim to his fascist rule," he added.

Families of extrajudicial killings, meanwhile, gathered for a live viewing of the former president’s first ICC appearance at the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) in Quezon City.

In a statement, the NCCP welcomed the arrest of Duterte, calling it a "significant development as a step towards justice."

"It is our prayer as a Council that the developments that will follow shall be guided by the principle of due process, a foundational principle of justice that thousands of poor Filipinos were deprived of during the violent and sham 'drug war," the NCCP said.

"We hope that this serves as an inspiration for all and that truth and justice will prevail in the end, thus, reinforcing the lesson that authoritarian regimes and their supporters shall not endure forever," it added.

NCCP, the largest alliance of mainline Protestant and non-Roman Catholic Churches in the country, was one of the organizations that has been vocal against Duterte's war on drugs.

It added that the arrest "brought President Duterte and his cohorts closer to accountability after eight grueling years of pursuing justice."

The 79-year-old former Philippine leader stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder for his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers — a campaign that human rights groups say claimed more than 30,000 lives. Protesters welcomed the trial as a chance for justice, while Duterte supporters believe he was “kidnapped.”