THE UNITED Nations (UN) recently received the official notification on the Philippines’ decision to pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a move that is connected to the probes intended to uncover extrajudicial killings in the country.
Shortly after receiving the notification, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq stated that “the withdrawal shall therefore take effect for the Philippines one year after the date of receipt, i.e., on March 17, 2019.”
Among those who carefully watch international news, this move by the Duterte administration seems reckless and even downright bad at least at first glance. Not only does it paint Duterte as being guilty of the crimes he’s being accused of, it also lowers the prestige of the Philippines on the international stage.
Having said that, Duterte’s decision to withdraw from the ICC has its pros and cons, and people can argue about them as much as they like. The problem is that this decision appears as though it was made on impulse, which is not a good thing. Now, the Duterte administration looks like it has something to hide.
Another aspect that drove Duterte to make this decision was his confidence that other countries will follow his lead. He had been so confident that a lot of leaders are like him that they would stampede out of the ICC.
Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Countries are members of various international bodies because they are expedient tools to pursue their interests. Another reason is that alternatives to such bodies rarely exist, and so member states are forced to go the only party in town.
However, Duterte’s decision to withdraw the Philippines from the ICC is indicative of another trend, which is the slow weakening of liberal democratic principles. In places like Turkey, China and yes, here in the Philippines, there’s now a sense that liberal democratic principles are in retreat. Consider, for example, Xi Jinping’s new (potentially) president for life title or Duterte’s own war on drugs. These are developments that indicate that ideas, like human rights, globalization, liberalism and humanism are no longer as powerful as they once were. The same is also true for the growing nationalism in the Western World as well as the gradual De-Westernization in other parts of the world.
Duterte’s decision to withdraw from the ICC is ultimately dictated by his war on drugs and his reputation with human rights activities, but there’s a deeper – some would say, symbolic significance – to his actions. By withdrawing the Philippines from the ICC, he is effectively saying that the Philippines doesn’t recognize the ICC’s legitimacy.
And because the ICC is ultimately a court that was founded on liberal democratic and Western values, withdrawal from it also means withdrawing from the assumption of the legitimacy of such values. It’s a symbolic act to be sure, but given what we’re seeing all over the world, it’s also a trend./PN
