Harry Roque urged by Palace: ‘Come home and face accusations’

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque talks to journalists outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) ahead of the hearing of former Philippines’ president Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague on March 14, 2025. —File photo by Nicolas Tucat | Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — Undersecretary Claire Castro of the Presidential Communications Office said in a press conference on Friday that it would be bette for former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to just come home.

Castro said in Filipino that “Since he’s no longer part of the legal team of former President Duterte, wasn’t that the reason why he didn’t come home? It would be better for him to come home first and prove that he has done nothing wrong.”

Castro made the remark after Vice President Sara Duterte announced on Wednesday that Roque was not a part of her father’s legal team before the ICC.

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Roque is then reportedly no longer at The Hague and has moved somewhere else in the Netherlands to finalize his asylum application, which he said would grant him the right to “nondepartation.”

However, Castro clarified that Roque was not yet treated as a fugitive pending the finalization of his cases at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Before this appearance in the Netherlands, Roque was in hiding due to an arrest order from the House of Representatives quad committee, which cited him for contempt and ordered him to be detained due to his failure to submit documents that would supposedly justify his sudden increased wealth.

Roque is also currently facing human trafficking complaints before the DOJ over his alleged “active participation” in the operations of scam hub Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.