On March 6, 2016, the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement stating that it had notified the United Nations in writing to formally withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
The statement said that Teodoro, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations? On the afternoon of June 5, 2018 local time, Qin Luo sent a written notice to the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General that the Philippines had officially withdrawn from the International Criminal Court. Viotti, Director of the Secretary-General’s Office, received the notice.
The Philippine government stated in a written notice that its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court was based on its "position against the politicization of human rights and the use of human rights as weapons."
Philippine Foreign Minister Cayetano said on June 16 that there was a carefully planned action aimed at distorting the human rights situation in the Philippines and misleading the international community in order to give Philippine President Duterte a concrete crime.
Duterte announced on the 14th that the Philippines would withdraw from the International Criminal Court due to its recent "attacks" on itself and the Philippine government.
In February this year, the International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, notified the Philippine government that it would launch a "preliminary investigation" into whether there were human rights violations in the anti-drug crimes led by Duterte. Previously, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court had expressed "extreme concern" about the Philippines' anti-drug operations.
Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Luo Ji said on June 5: President Duterte has made it very clear that the government must continue the anti-drug war, catch "big fish", and cannot let drug lords go unpunished; The ICC should be condemned if it becomes part of the dustbin of history.
On June 5, 2018, Philippine Foreign Minister Cayetano emphasized in public that this move was Manila’s “principled position”: “Non-governmental organizations and politicians have taken over the International Criminal Court, and human rights issues have been replaced by politics. We don’t want to be hypocrites." Since Duterte came to power in June 2016, he has cracked down on drug crimes in the country. About 120,000 drug-related persons have been arrested, and more than 3,000 drug-related persons have been killed in anti-drug operations.
The International Criminal Court was established in July 2002 based on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted by the United Nations in 1998. The court has jurisdiction to try genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. The Philippines ratified the Statute in August 2011 and officially joined the International Criminal Court.