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March 14,2018
President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“I therefore declare and forthwith give notice, as the President of the Republic of the Philippines, that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective immediately,” Duterte said in a statement released to the media on Wednesday.
Duterte cited the “baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks on my person as against my administration, engineered by the officials of the United Nations, as well as the attempt by the [ICC] special prosecutor to place my person within the jurisdiction of the [ICC].”
In a speech last week, Duterte said that the ICC could never acquire jurisdiction over his person, “not in a million years.”
“You cannot acquire jurisdiction over me not in a million years kaya ‘di ko sinasagot. Totoo ‘yan. Ayoko sabihin that has always been my weapon ever since. Sh*t. Maniwala ka diyan [That is why I’m not answering it. That’s true. I don’t want to say that it has always been my weapon ever since. Believe it] ,” Duterte said.
The ICC in February launched a preliminary examination on Duterte’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs, which was believed to have killed thousands of suspected drug criminals.
It will determine if there is a “reasonable basis” to proceed with an investigation in accordance to the criteria established by the Rome Statute.
The ICC has jurisdiction on genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. /jpv