FOREIGN Affairs undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega yesterday said there is no basis for the Dutch government to grant the asylum bid of former presidential spokesman Harry Roque because he is not a victim of political oppression.
Roque formally filed his petition for political asylum last week.
De Vega said this would be the manifestation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) when the Dutch government seeks its position on Roque’s request.
“Hindi siya politically oppressed so yan ang ating posisyon dyan. Kung manghingi ng paliwanag ang Dutch government kailangan nating sabihin yan na may demokrasya ang Pilipinas (Our position is that he is not politically oppressed. If the Dutch government will ask us for our position, we will tell them that their is democracy in the Philippines),” De Vega told the “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” forum when he was asked to comment on Roque’s asylum bid.
“Hindi totoo na may political prisoner or political oppression sa ating bansa (There is no political prisoner or political oppression in our country),” he added.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has earlier dared Roque to return to the country and face the complaints against him, and not to use as an excuse to stay in the Netherlands and evade accountability the impending trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte who is detained at the detention center of the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Meanwhile, an online petition urging the Dutch government to deny Roque’s asylum bid has already gathered more than 21, 000 signatures as of Wednesday evening.
The online petition, which was initiated last week by Filipino-Dutch writer Joel Vega, is hosted on Change.org under the title, “Block Harry Roque’s Asylum Move to The Netherlands.”
Vega has also sent a formal letter to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Services explaining why Roque’s asylum bid has no basis and must be rejected.
“Our petition has breached the 21,000 mark. Maraming salamat po sa lahat (Thank you everyone)!,” Vega said in a post on his social media account.
“We are considering closing the petition this coming Friday, after a week. We made our point,” he added.
The signatures climbed from more than 12,000 on Sunday to over 16,000 by Monday. It reached more than 18,000 by Tuesday.
“It is not just a petition of grievances or an attempt at confrontation. More importantly, it expresses the hope to dismantle an apparatus of fear, lack of empathy and disregard for the truth,” Vega said.
Vega has earlier said Roque, in seeking asylum in the Netherlands, is only exploiting the Dutch system to avoid legal accountability in Manila where he is facing a qualified human trafficking complaint before the Department of Justice in connection with his alleged involvement in the operation of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga.
The House of Representatives quad committee has also cited him in contempt and issued a warrant for his arrest after he refused to submit documents in the congressional inquiry on his alleged link to the POGO facility.
