Elusive Harry Roque flies to The Hague for ICC suspect Duterte
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who’s been in hiding for months now, made another public appearance and flew to The Hague, where his former principal is detained over crimes against humanity.
Roque arrived in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) headquarters on Friday, March 14 (Manila time), with Vice President Sara Duterte and Senator Robin Padilla. The former Cabinet official, who faces a local complaint in the Philippines, said he will serve as one of Duterte’s counsels in the ICC case.
“Sa ngayon ay iisa pa lang ang recognized na lawyer, si Attorney [Salvador] Medialdea, na siya ngayong kasama. Pero we have filled [out] all the documents para mapasama rin ako do’n sa team of counsels,” Roque said in his Facebook live. (For now, only one lawyer is recognized by the ICC, Attorney Medialdea, who’s with the former president. But we have filled out all the documents so I can join the team of counsels.)
He also revealed that another lawyer will be part of Duterte’s legal team. Roque said they will ask the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to delay Duterte’s first appearance hearing on Friday, but said they cannot disclose the reason due to privacy. In the first hearing, Duterte will be formally informed of the charges against him and his rights under the ICC Rome Statute.
Medialdea is not an ICC lawyer, but Roque is an ICC-accredited counsel which means he can defend the former president arrested on March 11. Other ICC-accredited Filipino lawyers include Gilbert Andres and Joel Butuyan, Roque’s former colleagues at the Center for International Law.
Kristina Conti of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, who also serves as assistant counsel to the victims, may practice in the court, too.
Outside Duterte’s arrest, Roque is facing a legal saga on his own — or rather avoiding it.
Duterte’s former spokesperson is facing a non-bailable trafficking complaint over his alleged ties to the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operators in Porac, Pampanga. He was able to leave the country because he was placed only under the immigration lookout order, which was not sufficient to bar his travels.
What could have prevented Roque’s travel was a precautionary hold departure order — a fairly new HDO meant for prosecutors to prevent flight of a suspect while they resolve complaints — but the Department of Justice did not apply for one.
Roque is also up for arrest, not because of his trafficking complaint since it’s only at the prosecutor’s level, but because of a House of Representatives arrest order. He was already arrested by the House in 2024, but he was ordered nabbed anew on September 12 last year — after he was cited in contempt due to non-compliance with the panel’s subpoena.
In December, Philippine authorities said Roque had flown to the Middle East since he had subscribed his affidavit for the trafficking complaint while in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. According to latest information, the elusive former official had traveled from UAE to China. – Rappler.com