MONTHS before the actual hearing on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s cases at The Hague, Harry Roque was barred from joining the legal defense team in what looks more like an effort to come up with a clean slate deemed as free from “an extra baggage.”
Roque served as the former president’s mouthpiece, and later on assumed the role of an attack dog targeting the Marcos administration.
Interestingly, the former Palace spokesperson is an international lawyer whose name forms part of the ICC-accredited attorneys.
However, he, himself is facing legal squabbles — including human trafficking cases filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a warrant of arrest issued by the House of Representatives which earlier cited him in contempt over links to scam-breeding offshore gaming corporations.
Roque has since been hopping from one country to another in an apparent effort to evade arrest.
ULTERIOR MOTIVE
Soon after the former President was arrested in Manila on March 11 – and flown to The Hague shortly before midnight of the same day, Vice President Sara Duterte went to the Netherlands to assist her father.
A lawyer by profession, the younger Duterte wasted no time, buckled down to work and started forming a legal team to defend the former President in court.
It was then that Roque showed up and presented himself as part of the legal defense team. He also announced plans of filing an application for asylum to legitimize his stay in the Netherlands.
The idea however didn’t sit well for Vice President Sara, who like many other pundits, sees Roque’s maneuver as more sinister than sincere.
For one, Roque himself doesn’t seem bent on returning to the Philippines in view of an imminent arrest over criminal charges and a congressional warrant for his detention.
SARA THE BOSS
In a televised interview at The Hague, Netherlands, VP Sara warded off Roque’s bid to defend the older Duterte. The reason — she doesn’t like the idea of taking in “an extra baggage.”
“Hindi siya kasama sa legal team. This is because the basis of his stay here in the Netherlands has not yet been established and we don’t want complications,” averred Sara, in reference to the congressional arrest order and criminal case against Roque.
Far from the confrontational Sara that she is, the Vice President conveyed her message in a manner politicians do, sharp but subtle. “We want him to focus on his asylum and we want our lawyers to focus on the case,” a visibly pissed off Sara was quoted as saying.
Roque however assured that the Philippine government cannot serve a warrant or file extradition against him. “Because I already filed an application, I cannot be forced to return to the country where I came from because of political persecution and that is the Philippines.”
PERSISTENT HARRY
Despite Sara’s pronouncement, Roque said he still wants to be part of the legal team even as he cited court rules requiring a Filipino lawyer for a case involving a former Philippine President.
“The issue is whether the arrest of [former President] Duterte was legal. There is a need for a Filipino lawyer there,” Roque said on his Facebook page.
By his own admission though, he knew for himself that the final decision rests with Vice President Sara. “Even if president Duterte chooses me but VP Sara does not want me, Ma’am, that’s your call. I will not force myself. It is important that aside from the endorsement of PRRD, the endorsement of VP Sara is important. I will obey her without pretensions.”
Earlier, Atty. Salvador Medialdea, Duterte’s former Executive Secretary, begged off because of health concerns. Medialdea stood as Duterte’s lawyer during the ICC’s pre-trial.
ASYLUM SEEKERS
While seeking asylum is nothing new, the last three years saw quite a number of Duterte stalwarts resorting to such to evade arrest and prosecution in court.
Among the prominent personalities closely identified with the former President who sought asylum shortly after sneaking out of the country includes dismissed Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who is facing a long list of criminal cases, including the murder of then Gov. Roel Degamo.
Teves applied for an asylum in Timor Leste
Another name on the list of Duterte allies who sought asylum is the former president’s rumored girlfriend Royina Garma whom he appointed as general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during his incumbency.
Garma applied for an asylum in the US.
Before he was arrested, the former president himself had also reportedly applied but failed to secure an asylum in Hong Kong.