The Philippines, in March 2018, notified the U.N. secretary-general of its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), month after the judicial body started an inquiry into President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial war on drugs. However, it assured the United Nations of its commitment to the rule of law. Duterte has been accused of encouraging extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses in his bid to rid the country of drugs since his election in 2016.