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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Sorry, I cannot come home': Harry Roque seeks asylum in the Netherlands

'Sorry, I cannot come home': Harry Roque seeks asylum in the Netherlands

Published Mar 17, 2025 11:59 am

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday, March 17, that he will seek political asylum in the Netherlands, where former president Rodrigo Duterte is currently detained for crimes against humanity of murder.

Harry_The Hague.jpegFormer presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in The Hague, Netherlands. (Screengrab video from AP)

“I’m sorry I cannot come home, I have to defend my president,” he said in a virtual press conference on Monday.

Roque, who has a standing congressional warrant after skipping a congressional inquiry into his alleged involvement with illegal gambling operations in the country, resurfaced in The Hague shortly after the former president arrival there.

He previously traveled under the radar, purportedly to Dubai and China, even though his warrant does not prohibit his travel.

An accredited counsel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a former human rights lawyer and international law professor, Roque said that his congressional warrant will prove that he is under “unjust prosecution.”

“As soon as my application for asylum is received, I do have the rights to non-refoulement. Non-refoulement under international law means number one, non-deportation until matapos ‘yung imbestigasyon (the investigation is completed) if I’m entitled to asylum status,” he explained.

It also meant “non-prosecution for illegal entry” although he clarified that his entry to the Netherlands is legal because he has a valid visa.

In the United Nations website, non-refoulement is a guarantee “that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.”

Roque would have to file his application at the Immigration & Naturalisation Service (IND), which he said was three hours away from The Hague.

“There is a whole procedure that I need to comply before they give me proof that I’m an asylum seeker and a temporary residence in the Netherlands as soon as they receive my application for asylum,” he explained.

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