The Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines stands by its decision to withdraw from the ICC. Petitions against this decision have been qualified as “moot” and been dismissed. Salvador Panelo, presidential spokesperson said: “The ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, nor any of its state officials”.
In February 2018, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced the opening of a preliminary investigation of the killings by police in the context of the so-called war on drugs. On March 17, 2019, Duterte declared the Philippine’s withdrawal from the ICC.
After petitions against this move have been dismissed, the government asked the ICC to stop the investigations about human rights violations once and for all.