Human rights advocates and Filipino refugees in Europe are calling on the Dutch government to reject former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s application for asylum.
They accused Roque of attempting to evade accountability for his role in the Duterte administration’s controversial policies.
Roque announced on Monday his intention to seek refuge in The Netherlands, citing what he called “political persecution” by the current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
He claimed that a warrant issued for his arrest by the Philippine House of Representatives, which he described as “indefinite and without bail,” was unjust and politically motivated.
“Well, I am formally announcing that after our meeting today, I am filing formally for asylum here [in] The Netherlands,” Roque said in an online broadcast.
Roque, a lawyer and former legislator, is under investigation for alleged human trafficking linked to Chinese offshore gaming operations (POGOs) in the Philippines.
He asserted that his close association with former president Rodrigo Duterte and his role as an accredited defense counsel for Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) have made him a target of political retribution.
However, human rights group Karapatan dismissed Roque’s claims, expressing “disgust” at his attempt to seek international protection.
The organization accused Roque of being a “main cheerleader of Duterte’s sham drug war and his war against political dissenters, justifying extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations with the arrogance and conceit of someone who is drunk with power.”
Karapatan argued that Roque’s application for asylum is an abuse of a mechanism intended for victims of persecution, not for those who allegedly enabled it.
“Genuine asylum seekers are people facing violations of their rights from their home countries. Roque is more notoriously known as an opportunist accomplice of human rights violators like Duterte and thus should not be eligible for asylum in the Netherlands and anywhere else outside the Philippines,” the group said.
The organization further urged the Dutch government to “immediately reject Roque’s application,” while also appealing to Canadian authorities to deny entry to two other individuals linked to the Duterte administration — former Philippine National Police officer Josue Limmong Ahuday and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict agent Jeffrey Celiz.
Karapatan alleged that Ahuday was involved in implementing the government’s anti-drug campaign, while Celiz “has repeatedly endangered activists and dissenters” through red-tagging.
“These Duterte subalterns and fascists deserve to be made fully accountable for their crimes — and they should not be given safe havens in other countries,” Karapatan said.
Meanwhile, the group Filipino Refugees in Europe (FREE) also condemned Roque’s asylum bid, calling him a “fugitive lawyer” undeserving of the privilege.
In a report by Kodao Productions, the group said, “It is not a shield for enablers of state terror and human rights violators seeking to evade accountability.”
“As Duterte’s spokesperson, Roque played a central role in justifying and defending the extrajudicial killing spree under the so-called ‘war on drugs,’ which led to the murder of tens of thousands of Filipinos, including innocent civilians,” FREE said.
The group also criticized Roque for “ridiculing human rights defenders who sought justice for the victims,” adding that his actions “contributed to the very climate of impunity that forced many Filipinos, including members of FREE, to flee their homeland in fear for their lives.”
FREE maintained that Roque’s situation does not constitute political persecution but rather “justice catching up with him.”
The group noted that Europe has historically hosted political exiles and asylum seekers, including the late Communist Party of the Philippines co-founder Jose Maria Sison, who resided in the Dutch city of Utrecht until his death in 2022.
Roque has yet to formally submit his asylum application. As of this report, Dutch authorities have not issued a statement regarding his case.
