QUEZON CITY — Journalist Philip Lustre Jr., a longtime critic of former President Rodrigo Duterte whose writings included personal attacks and approval of Duterte’s continued ICC detention, was arrested Saturday, October 24, on a cyberlibel warrant issued by a Davao court.
Police arrested the 72-year-old after the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City. Radyo Pilipinas reported that the warrant came from Regional Trial Court Branch 10 in Davao City and that Lustre was taken into the custody of the Quezon City Police District’s Station 10.
Lustre said he had been unaware of the complaint. Lawyer Dino de Leon, who was attending the forum, took up his defense and said they would seek bail and humanitarian consideration because of his age.
“Ilalaban ko ito. Hindi ko uurungan ito,” Lustre said.
Lustre’s criticism of Duterte has extended beyond government policy to his character, health and detention.
In an October 10, 2025 post on X reproduced by Abogado.com.ph, Lustre mocked Duterte’s earlier threat to kick International Criminal Court officials. Commenting on his detention, Lustre wrote: “He’ll eat them. He’s done. Thank you, ICC.” The report linked his remarks to the court’s rejection of Duterte’s request for interim release.
In June 2018, Lustre condemned Duterte’s controversial kiss of a woman during an appearance in South Korea as “a pitiful display of naked power and outright stupidity.” He also described the incident as “macho fascism,” according to Esquire Philippines, which quoted his Facebook post.
His clashes with Duterte predated the latter’s presidency. In September 2015, Lustre claimed on Facebook that the then-Davao mayor had throat cancer and that a presidential campaign could worsen his condition. He attributed the claim to an unnamed source. Duterte’s political adviser Lito Banayo denied it and called it “black propaganda.”
Lustre also authored Kill, Kill, Kill: Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines: Crimes Against Humanity v. Rodrigo Duterte et al., a book examining the drug war and the allegations brought against Duterte before the ICC.
The specific publication underlying the cyberlibel charge was not identified in the initial reports reviewed. Those reports do not establish that any of the writings cited above prompted the case. Lustre’s lawyer said the defense would challenge the proceedings and seek his release on bail.