MANILA, Philippines — A petition was launched by "concerned Filipino citizens" against the bid of former Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque to seek asylum in the Netherlands.
The petition, named "Block Harry Roque's Asylum Move to The Netherlands" has 1,680 signatures as of posting time on Saturday.
"We are very concerned to hear that Herminio Lopez Roque Jr., otherwise known as Harry Roque, previously a human rights lawyer apparently registered with the International Criminal Court, and former spokesman for ex-president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, is applying for asylum in the Netherlands. He was previously hiding in the United Arab Emirates and came to the Netherlands in the hope of defending the former president," the description of the petition wrote.
The online petition was addressed to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"Roque is not only unqualified for asylum in a great free country like the Netherlands. He also does not meet the formal requirements for asylum. Furthermore, he is misusing the Dutch asylum system to evade justice from the House of Representatives, evade questions about his sudden wealth, his involvement in the now banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, and alleged links with human trafficking operations," it added.
The petition starter, Joel Vega, said in a Facebook post on Friday that he also wrote a separate letter addressed to the director general of the Dutch office, Rhodia Maas.
Roque served as Duterte's spokesman during his presidency and was also in the Netherlands, supposedly to serve as the former leader's legal counsel.