While the Philippine government has no power to block the asylum bid of former presidential spokesman Harry Roque in the Netherlands, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Migrant Workers Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said that it can inform the Dutch government that the former official is not facing political persecution.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in The Hague, Netherlands. (Screengrab video from AP)
“Kung maghingi ng paliwanag ‘yung Dutch government bago magdesidido diyan, kailangan talaga natin sabihin ang katotohanan na demokrasya ang Pilipinas. Hindi na totoong may political prisoner or that may mga oppressed (If the Dutch government will ask for an explanation before they decide on that, we need to tell them the truth that there is democracy in the Philippines. That it is not true we have a political prisoner or there are oppressed),” the DFA official explained during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing on Thursday, March 27.
“So, papaliwanag natin ang posisyon natin pero ‘yung harang, hindi natin mahaharang ‘yan kung iyan ang desisyon ng Netherlands (So, we will explain our position but when it comes to blocking, we cannot block it if that’s the decision of the Netherlands),” he added.
He even cited the case of Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder who was granted political asylum by the Dutch government in The Netherlands back in 1995.
Roque, who resurfaced in The Hague after the former president’s arrest, is the subject of a standing congressional warrant over his alleged links to illegal offshore gambling.
He has since applied for an asylum in the Netherlands purportedly to be allowed to represent the former president before the ICC there, but Vice President Sara Duterte has decided against his inclusion in her father’s legal team.
There is no word yet on the status of his asylum application.
Last week, House lawmakers called on the DFA to block Roque’s asylum request to force him to return to the Philippines and attend the congressional hearings.
An online petition seeking to block his application for asylum has also gathered 21,000 signatures as of Wednesday, March 26.
It was initiated by Filipino-Dutch writer Joel Vega, who also sent a formal letter to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Services to explain why Roque’s asylum bid should be rejected.