EDITORIAL - A big loss for the Philippines

For a country that has long been considered a bastion of democracy in Asia, the decision to pull out from the International Criminal Court is really a big loss for the Philippines, whose human rights record under the Duterte administration has been criticized by the international community.

The constant criticisms from the ICC, United Nations Human Rights Commission, and some First World countries over the way the government handles its war on illegal drugs should not have been the reason for the country to withdraw its membership from the body.

Those criticisms are not a sort of penalty from the international community. They were just actually a call to correct what critics claim as glaring mistakes in the government’s drive against the illegal drug trade that has already claimed thousands of lives across the country since Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency.

The decision of the country to pull out from the ICC was due to the threat to charge President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials before the body over alleged human rights abuses in the battle against drugs.

But the ICC withdrawal only creates a bad reputation for the country as a democratic icon in the region. That is because many of our neighbors might think that, despite having strong institutions that support human rights, the Philippines is after all afraid of international criticisms.

Yes, the government’s decision to pull out from the ICC is understandable because the Duterte administration does not want to bow down to international pressures over allegations of extrajudicial killings in its anti-drug campaign.

The problem is that the government has never been aggressive in defending its drug war before the international community. Instead, it opted to resort to banning foreign human rights critics and pulling out of ICC, moves that only aggravate the situation.