Roque says he’s off to Vienna as DFA cancels PH passport
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he left Amsterdam to fly to Austria on Tuesday, ahead of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) enforcement of a Philippine court order canceling his passport over charges of qualified human trafficking.
As news of his “arrest” in The Hague reached Manila, Roque posted on social media a photo of his boarding pass to Vienna at 9:40 a.m. (4:25 p.m. Manila time) via Dutch flag carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. His flight number was listed as KL 1901, his boarding time was 9:15 a.m. and his seat number in economy was 25A.
“There is no truth to the rumors that I have been arrested. I have a scheduled flight to Vienna, Austria today, Nov. 25,’’ he said on Facebook.
Roque has been seeking asylum in the Netherlands, claiming to be a victim of political persecution. His supposed flight to Austria came a day after it was announced that the Pasig City Regional Trial Court approved the prosecution’s motion to cancel his passport.
As of last night, the DFA had yet to confirm whether Roque was indeed able to fly to another country. Earlier in the day, it announced that it had canceled his passport, and those of four of his coaccused in compliance with the court order.
On Nov. 19, the Pasig Regional Trial Court’s Branch 157 granted the motion filed by prosecutors to cancel the passports of Roque, Cassandra Li Ong, former government official Dennis Cunanan, Ronelyn Baterna and Mercides Macabasa over the qualified trafficking charges they are facing in connection with the illegal activities of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga.
The resolution was made public only on Monday.
To be near Duterte
Roque was identified as a legal officer of Lucky South 99, which ran the Pogo hub that was raided and shut down in June 2024 over allegations of torture, human trafficking and scamming.
Roque earlier said that he continued to stay in Europe to be near former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague, on charges of murder as a crime against humanity in connection with his war on drugs.
Days after Duterte was brought to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March, Roque showed up in The Hague and announced his asylum bid.
On Tuesday, DFA spokesperson Angelica Escalona said the department has canceled the passports of Roque, Ong, and the three others.
“Following established procedures, law enforcement and border control authorities have been notified about these canceled travel documents,” Escalona told reporters.
The Philippine consular office that has jurisdiction of the country where Roque is located will impose the DFA order.
Roque vowed to appeal the cancellation of his passport, calling it another form of harassment, and urged the Philippine government to “respect his right” to seek asylum.
‘Right to asylum’
“I still have 15 days to file a motion for reconsideration and I will file a motion for reconsideration. Why? Because I think the court’s reasoning is wrong,” he said in a livestream on Monday night.
The Pasig court earlier said Roque could be considered a fugitive as he “knowingly chose to remain in another country despite the charge against him.”
Roque, however, said that seeking asylum was a human right. He also insisted that there was no evidence of his involvement in human trafficking and he merely represented Whirlwind Corp. in an ejectment case. Lucky South 99, however, listed him as its legal officer when it applied for the renewal of its operating license.
“Because the right to seek asylum is a human right. If I am persecuted because of my political beliefs, I can ask for asylum in another country. And it’s a matter of record that before any complaint was filed against me, in fact, as of Mar. 19, I already asked for asylum in the Netherlands,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice offered a P1-million reward for any information that will lead to the arrest of Ong, saying they were finding it hard to track her down. Whirlwind Corp., where Ong served as an incorporator, leased land to Lucky South 99.
“Yes, we confirm that we are having difficulty [locating Ong]. The reward is basically [for] crowdsourcing. We need more information. Definitely, the current information that we have, we don’t have enough,” acting Justice Secretary Frederick Vida said in a briefing.
Vida said the Philippines will coordinate with Japan following information from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission that Ong was last seen there.
Vida noted that based on verified information coming from the Bureau of Immigration as of Tuesday, there was no record of Ong leaving the country. —WITH REPORTS FROM KEITH CLORES AND DIANNE SAMPANG
