Philippine President says may follow Russia's ICC withdrawal

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday he might follow Russia's step to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, citing criticism from Western nations for a rash of killings unleashed by his war on drugs.

In comments ahead of his departure for Lima to attend an Asia-Pacific summit, Duterte also railed against the United States and said that if Russia and China were to create a "new order" then the Philippines would be the first to join it.

Meanwhile, Filipinos gave the Duterte administration a "very good" public satisfaction rating in its first three months in office, a private pollster has reported on Thursday.

The Social Weather Stations (SWS) said the government got the highest approval for its war on drugs and the promotion of human rights in a survey conducted on September 24 to 27 — nearly a hundred days after President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30 on the back of an anti-crime and anti-corruption platform.

Of 1,200 respondents, 75 percent or 7 in 10 Filipinos were satisfied with government's performance against only 8 percent who said otherwise, for a net satisfaction rating of 66 percent. Seventeen percent were "undecided

SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings over 70 percent as "excellent," +50 to +69 "very good," and +30 to +49 "good."

The drug war had an excellent 78 percent net satisfaction rating, with 85 percent of respondents saying they were satisfied with the campaign. Only 7 percent were dissatisffied and the other 7 percent were undecided.

Police data show 1,881 suspects were killed in anti-drug operations from July 1 to November 15.

But world leaders such as United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US President Barack Obama have expressed concern on the killings resulting from the campaign.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said her office will closely monitor the Philippines over "worrying" reports of alleged extrajudicial killings

source : gulfnews