FORMER Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday, March 17, 2025, that he will seek asylum in the Netherlands in order to continuously defend detained former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Well, I’m formally announcing that after a meeting today, I’m formally filing for asylum here in the Netherlands. As soon as my application of asylum is received, I do have rights to non-refoulement,” Roque said in a virtual press conference.
Non-refoulement under international law means, number one, non-deportation until matapos ‘yung imbestigasyon, if I’m entitled to asylum status; and number two, non-prosecution for illegal entry, he added.
In August, Roque was placed under Immigration Look-out Bulletin Order (Ilbo) over their alleged involvement in the raided illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo) in Porac, Pampanga.
The House of Representatives also issued an arrest order against him amid the quad-committee’s inquiry into the possible link between the proliferation of illegal operations of Pogos, illegal drug trade, anomalous land acquisitions, and extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)