Roque to seek political asylum in the Netherlands
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he would seek political asylum in the Netherlands amid the human trafficking case he was facing in the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the warrant for his arrest issued by the House of Representatives.
“I am formally announcing that I am formally filing for asylum here in the Netherlands,” Roque said in a virtual press conference on Monday (Manila time) that was aired on his Facebook page.
But according to him, while his application is pending, he will be entitled to his rights to nonrefoulement which, under international human rights law, prohibits a country from deporting a refugee when their life or freedom is under threat.
Roque flew to the Netherlands following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte who is charged before the International Criminal Court (ICC) with committing crimes against humanity in connection with his brutal drug war.
The former presidential spokesperson has been in hiding since September 2024 after the quad committee of the House of Representatives, which had launched an investigation of the crimes linked to the Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) in the country, cited Roque in contempt to supposedly failing to appear at its hearings.
He has since been reported to have flown to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and China, before he surfaced in The Hague on Friday.
Roque is also facing qualified human trafficking charges in the DOJ for his alleged involvement in the operations of an illegal Pogo hub in Porac, Pampanga.
“I cannot come home,” Roque said, in response to calls for him to return to the country and face the charges against him. “I have to defend my president as a member of the list [of] counsel in the Hague.”
Not yet official
Roque is one of five Filipino lawyers accredited by the ICC. He has been tapped to form part of Duterte’s counsel in the ICC, along with former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman.
But the ICC has yet to officially recognize him as Duterte’s counsel, Roque said, adding that Vice President Sara Duterte was also applying as a counsel “only because she needs access to the [former] president and as a family member.”
At a press briefing, Palace press officer Claire Castro said that those demanding Duterte’s return to the country must also call for Roque to come home.
