PH formally informs UN of withdrawal from ICC

The Philippines on Friday formally informed the United Nations (UN) of the government’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Philippine Ambassador to the UN Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he delivered the notice to UN Chef De Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti.

“The decision to withdraw is the Philippines’ principled stand against those who politicize and weaponize human rights, even as its independent and well-functioning organs and agencies continue to exercise jurisdiction over complaints, issues, problems and concerns arising from its efforts to protect its people,” a March 15 letter addressed to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres read.

A copy of the letter was posted on Locsin’s Twitter account.

“The Philippines assures the community of nations that the Philippine Government continues to be guided by the rule of law embodied in its Constitution, which also enshrines the country’s long-standing tradition of upholding human rights,” the letter read.

Locsin, who also posted a photo of Viotti receiving the letter said it was “a sad day but a day sure to come because human rights has been politicized.”

“It is my duty to give you this. A sad day but a day sure to come because human rights has been politicized. We resisted US pressure not to join until we finally signed on only to have it weaponized against our democracy fighting an existential threat from the drug trade,” he said in a Twitter post.

In a statement on Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).   /muf