section_path: History
section_name: History
paragraph_text: History
  
  On October 13, 2016, about four months into the Philippine drug war, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressed deep concern over reports of extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users in the Philippines, stating that the ICC would be "closely following developments" in the country to assess whether to open a preliminary examination if necessary. The following month, on November 17, President Duterte threatened to follow Russia's lead by withdrawing the Philippines from the ICC, which he called "useless" in Filipino.
  
  On April 27, 2017, Filipino lawyer Jude Sabio submitted a 77-page document to the ICC titled "The Situation of Mass Murder in the Philippines", requesting charges of mass murder and crimes against humanity against President Duterte and 11 other officials. Similarly, then-Senator Antonio Trillanes and members of the Magdalo Party-List, led by then-Representative Gary Alejano, filed a 45-page supplemental complaint requesting charges of crimes against humanity in addition to the earlier filing by Sabio. However, in January 2020, Sabio retracted his allegations and requested the ICC to dismiss the charges, claiming that his 2017 case was an orchestrated move by the Liberal Party, particularly Senators Antonio Trillanes and Leila de Lima, to discredit Duterte. The ICC rejected Sabio's request, stating that it "cannot effectively destroy or return information once it is in its possession or control".
  
  On August 28, 2018, activists and families of eight victims of the Philippine drug war, led by the National Union of People's Lawyers, submitted a 50-page document to the ICC. This was followed up by two supplemental pleadings, filed in October 2018 and October 2019, respectively.
  
  Inquiries on the drug war were held by the House of Representatives ' Quad Committee and the Senate Blue Ribbon sub-committee in October 2024. Duterte attended the Senate inquiry and transcripts from the hearings was later submitted to the ICC by Duterte's staunch critic, former Senator Antonio Trillanes.