The Philippine government will block the application for asylum filed by former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque with the Netherlands government, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said yesterday.
Ty said he was tasked by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to deal with Roque’s case.
“The instructions from the Secretary directly to me is that we will notify the government of the Netherlands once the arrest warrant is issued,” Ty told ABS-CBN News in an interview, referring to the qualified human trafficking case filed by state prosecutors before a Pampanga court.
Prosecutors have charged Roque, Cassandra Ong and 48 officials and employees of Whirlwind Corporation and Lucky South 99 of the non-bailable case of qualified human trafficking before the Angeles City Regional Trial Court in connection with their alleged involvement in the operation of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga.
Authorities raided the hub last year due to allegations that it is operating as a scam farm and other irregularities.
Roque has denied the allegation and slammed the Marcos administration for filing the case.
He also said he will include the filing of the case as evidence of political persecution to boost his asylum bid.
Ty said that once the court issues a warrant of arrest, the DOJ will notify the Netherlands government and ask it to reject Roque’s application.
“We don’t want to preempt any warrant of arrest issued by the court because that is up to the court, but the moment it does, we will duly notify the government of the Netherlands,” he said.
Meanwhile, Remulla dismissed Roque’s statement that he will face the human trafficking charges against him while seeking asylum in the Netherlands as “double talk.”
“I will not argue against anybody here.
I’m just saying that prosecutors have found more than just probable cause and I trust the judgment of the prosecutors in this case,” Remulla told reporters in an ambush interview.
“If he said he will face the charges pero andun pa sya (but he is still there), then he is not going to face the charges. It’s double talk,” he also said, adding that Roque should return to the Philippines and face the charges here.
The DOJ chief said he is confident that the Dutch government is aware what is happening in the country and will carefully evaluate Roque’s asylum bid.
“It will depend on the Dutch republic. But I think that their ambassador here can give comments also on the status of Harry Roque as a citizen and his problems with the law. I think we expect them to be fair in this case,” he said.
Roque fled the country after the quad committee of the House of Representatives investigating his link to the operation of the POGO hub in Pampanga cited him in contempt after he refused to provide documents that were subpoenaed by the panel.
An online petition launched by Filipino-Dutch writer Joel Vega has already gathered thousands of signatures in opposition to Roque’s asylum petition.
Last month, Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega dismissed Roque’s petition and said it has no basis.
