The Arrest of Former President Rodrigo Duterte for Crimes Against Humanity by The International Criminal Court: A Sentiment Analysis

This study investigates public sentiment regarding the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, as expressed on the GMA News Facebook page. Utilizing qualitative sentiment analysis and thematic coding, the research analyzes 100 purposively selected Facebook comments to identify frequently used words and key public emotions. The most common words-such as “president,” “Philippines,” “arrest,” “justice,” and “government”-highlight the centrality of national identity, leadership, and accountability in public discourse. Sentiment analysis, conducted using Orange text mining software, revealed a divided public: 53% of comments were positive, 38% negative, and 9% neutral. Thematic analysis identified six major themes, including leadership and political legacy during Duterte’s administration, international accountability and ICC, crime and national security, public trust in the justice system, public perception of crime and safety, and political divisions and partisanships. The findings underscore the polarizing effect of Duterte’s arrest and the significant role of social media in shaping public debate on international justice and political accountability. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers, human rights organizations, and international institutions, and contributes to literature on computational discourse analysis of political events.