2 more reps urge Roque to return to PH: ‘No place like home’
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque talks to journalists outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) ahead of the hearing of former President Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague on March 14, 2025. —File photo by Nicolas Tucat | Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — Two more lawmakers are urging former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to come home and face the House quad committee instead of loitering around in the Netherlands.
During a press briefing on Thursday, La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V said Roque could go home as he was no longer angry — a reference to a Filipino social media meme where someone tells a lover to go home as his or her anger has subsided already.
“I don’t know what message I should give. ‘Come home, because I’m no longer mad?’ I don’t know what to say, but isn’t this how we jokingly tell people on Facebook to come home,” Ortega said in Filipino, eliciting laughter from journalists.
“Go home, I’m no longer mad. But of course, once he goes home he has to face the issues he left behind, without having to get angry. He just has to answer them,” he added.
What if asylum is denied?
Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong posed the possibility that the Netherlands would deny Roque’s application for asylum.
“I think the question is, if for example his application for asylum in The Hague is denied, where would he go? That’s the question. So there’s no place for him. There’s no place like home, Attorney Roque. So come home and face the charges. Where would you go if The Hague or Netherlands refused your appeal for asylum? There’s no place like home,” Adiong said.
“It’s not so much on his personal choice. As a lawyer he’s bound to obey the law, and he’s bound to respect the law. And he’s bound to subject himself before the law. If he is being charged with a certain crime as a lawyer, I think he needs to face it. How come he’s going to some other place and wanting to defend a certain individual when he does not want to defend himself?” he added.
Alleged Pogo links
In September 2024, the House quad committed cited Roque, ex-spokesperson of former president Rodrigo Duterte, for contempt for refusing to hand over documents that were deemed essential to the investigation of his links to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
READ: Harry Roque ordered detained anew; calls House panel a ‘kangaroo court’
Two companies where Roque is involved, Biancham Holdings and PH2 Corp., were scrutinized by the quad committee for alleged links to Lucky South 99, the Pogo hub in Porac, Pampanga which was raided last June 4 for human trafficking issues.
The quad committee lead presiding officer, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, also noted that two illegal aliens working for Pogos were arrested in a Tuba, Benguet house, which Roque admitted to partly owning.
Spotted at The Hague
However, last March 14, Roque was spotted in the Hague, in the Netherlands, accompanying Vice President Sara Duterte, who’s the ex-president’s daughter, and Sen. Robinhood Padilla. The trio went there to assist the ex-president, who was recently taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Many initially thought Roque was in the Hague to lawyer for Duterte, as he is just one of five Filipino lawyers who has been accredited by the ICC. However, Vice President Duterte confirmed on Wednesday that Roque was not part of her father’s legal team.
According to the vice president, the decision was made so that Roque could focus on his formal application to seek asylum in the Netherlands — allegedly due to political persecution.
According to Adiong, Roque committed to providing the documents to the quad committee, but he has not submitted them until now — leading to his citation for contempt.
Still no documents
“And also, the citation for contempt by the quad comm was because he did not give the documents asked of him, I think he had a business set-up with alleged connections to Pogos and suddenly there was an unexplained spike of the asset of his dormant business during that time,” Adiong noted.
“So those are the documents that we wanted him to provide. Unfortunately upon giving us the confirmation that he will provide these documents, he did not show up and he no longer provided us these documents. So that’s the reason why he was cited for contempt,” he added.
This is not the first time that lawmakers called out Roque for not showing up at the quad committee hearings.
On Wednesday, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said Roque must come home since no less than Vice President Duterte said he was no longer not part of her father’s legal team.
On Tuesday, Brosas’ fellow Makabayan bloc member, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, said that, while it was well within Roque’s right to defend Duterte, the former spokesperson should first address pending issues at the quad committee.
Meanwhile, the House committee on public accounts chair, Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, said that the quad committee would summon representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Immigration to clarify the circumstances of Roque’s travels.
