Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s claim that he is a victim of political persecution does not hold water, according to former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, who noted that even harsher critics of the Marcos administration are not facing any charges.
“If his basis for saying that he is politically persecuted is because he is a critic of the administration, then that claim does not stand,” Panelo said in a statement.
“There are other, harsher critics of the administration who are neither being persecuted nor prosecuted.”
Roque, a known ally of the Duterte family, is currently seeking asylum in The Netherlands.
He is facing an arrest warrant for charges of qualified human trafficking in connection with the operations of the Lucky South 99 POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga.
Panelo added that Roque should return to the Philippines and face the charges against him.
“The burden of proof lies on the government. He is constitutionally presumed innocent. Let the government prove its case,” Panelo said.
Meanwhile, Malacañang dismissed Roque’s recent statement accusing the government of wasting public resources in tracking him down.
“If he is truly concerned about public funds, then he should have started showing that concern as early as 2016,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a briefing.
“Looking for a fugitive is not a waste of time. If he really cares about public resources, then he should voluntarily return to the country to avoid wasting more of the government’s time and money,” she added.
The Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group earlier confirmed that tracker teams have been deployed to locate and serve arrest warrants against Roque and other individuals implicated in the case.
