The group Filipino Refugees in Europe (FREE) condemned former presidential spokesperson Herminio “Harry” Roque’s attempt to seek asylum in The Netherlands, saying the fugitive lawyer is not deserving of the privilege.
Reacting to Roque’s announcement on Monday of his intent to seek international protection, the group said asylum is a fundamental right granted to individuals facing genuine political persecution, something human rights violators like Roque is not entitled to.
“It is not a shield for enablers of state terror and human rights violators seeking to evade accountability,” FREE said.
Roque announced online his plan, claiming he is being unjustly prosecuted by the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.
“Well, I am formally announcing that after our meeting today, I am filing formally for asylum here [in] The Netherlands,” he said.
Persecution?
Roque said the arrest warrant issued against him by the House of Representatives is unjust as it is “indefinite and without bail.”
The former legislator also claimed that his close association with Rodrigo Duterte is the “political motivation” for the persecution in an attempt to link the former president to the banned offshore gaming operations by Chinese entities in the Philippines.
The lawyer is under investigation for alleged human trafficking in connected with Chinese offshore gaming operations.
He also said he could not come home as he has to defend Duterte as an International Criminal Court-accredited counsel.
Roque fled the Philippines and had been to several countries, emerging in The Hague after Duterte had been arrested and flown to the Dutch city last week to face charges of crimes against humanity before the ICC.
Accomplice
But FREE said Roque is not a victim of political repression as he is a key accomplice in Duterte’s reign of terror in the Philippines.
“As Duterte’s spokesperson, Roque played a central role in justifying and defending the extrajudicial killing spree under the so-called ‘war on drugs,’ which led to the murder of tens of thousands of Filipinos, including innocent civilians, the group said.
Roque consistently downplayed the gravity of the atrocities and ridiculed human rights defenders who sought justice for the victims, it added.
“His complicity contributed to the very climate of impunity that forced many Filipinos, including members of FREE, to flee their homeland in fear for their lives,” FREE said.
FREE also said that if Roque now finds himself unwelcome in the very system he once served, it is not persecution but justice catching up with him.
European countries are among the hosts of asylum seekers, refugees and political exiles, most notably the late Communist Party of the Philippines co-founder Prof. Jose Ma. Sison who died in the Dutch city of Utrecht in December 2022.
In the Philippines, rights group Karapatan said it is “disgusted” at Roque’s announcement, noting that he had been “a main cheerleader of Duterte’s sham drug war and his war against political dissenters, justifying extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.”
Karapatan said Roque was arrogant and conceited in his defense of the now detained Duterte, himself drunk with power when he was presidential spokesperson.
Both the refugees in Europe and rights defenders in the Philippines urged the Dutch government to reject outright Roque’s asylum application as he was an “enabler of crimes against humanity.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
