Lawyer Harry Roque, September 7, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File 

MANILA — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday challenged lawyer Harry Roque to return to the Philippines instead of seeking asylum in the Netherlands.

“Harapin niya kung ano ang isinasakdal sa kanya magpaka-Pilpino siya,” Remulla said in the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum.

Remulla opposed Roque’s participation in the crimes against humanity case of former President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court.

“Actually he is a non-entity in this drama, he is trying to put himself in the picture,” Remulla said.

Asked if the passport of Roque could be revoked, Remula said this was only possible when a case against him is filed in court.

Roque may be placed on Interpol watchlist if court issues arrest warrant: immigration

ROQUE AND DUTERTE'S ICC CASE

Roque, who had served two stints as former president Rodrigo Duterte's Palace spokesman, left the Philippines in September after being cited for contempt for refusing to attend hearings into offshore gambling sites used as fronts for criminal activities.

He re-emerged at Duterte's side last week after the ex-president was flown to the International Criminal Court to face crimes against humanity charges tied to his bloody crackdown on drugs in which thousands were killed.

Rodrigo Duterte at ICC: What happens next?

"I'm filing formally for asylum here in the Netherlands," Roque told a Facebook live press briefing Monday.

"I am confident that I can prove political persecution through unjust prosecution," he said, referencing an arrest warrant issued by a congressional committee.

Roque, one of five Philippine lawyers currently on the ICC's "list of counsel" able to represent defendants at the tribunal, said he expected to be part of the former president's defense team.

That work would also prevent him from returning home, he told reporters.

"I cannot come home. I have to defend my president as a member of the list counsel of the ICC at the Hague," he said.

But the ex-leader’s daughter Vice President Sara Duterte said Tuesday that Roque would no longer be part of her father’s defense team.

"Hindi pa kasi na-establish kung ano yung basis ng pag-stay niya dito sa Netherlands and we don't want complications ba," she said.

"Gusto namin nakatutok talaga yung lawyers doon sa kaso and right now he's, I heard, applying for asylum? He publicly announced that already, so we want him to focus on his asylum and then we want our lawyers to focus on the case," she added.

She said Nicholas Kaufman, a veteran international lawyer, had been added to her father's legal team.

Kaufman has previously represented clients at The Hague including former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Aisha Kadhafi, daughter of the deceased Libyan dictator.
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