FORMER Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has asked the Pasig Regional Trial Court to reverse its order canceling his Philippine passport, insisting there is no legal basis to label him a “fugitive.”
In a motion for reconsideration filed on Dec. 9, Roque argued that his stay in Europe is lawful because he is exercising his right to seek asylum.
Roque said Pasig RTC Branch 157 erred when it “expanded” the meaning of the word fugitive beyond what the law provides.
“There is no room for interpretation that disregarded the time element… and focusing only on the purported intention to avoid prosecution,” his appeal read.
“What is material is the time of actual ‘fleeing’ or the time that the citizen used his passport to travel outside of the jurisdiction after being charged,” he added.
Roque emphasized that he applied for asylum in the Netherlands on March 19, before any case was filed against him, making his stay abroad legal and not an attempt to evade trial.
Because of this, he argued, canceling his passport amounts to an unjust punishment.
Last November, Pasig RTC Branch 157 ordered the cancellation of the passports of Roque and several other respondents in the qualified human trafficking case linked to the illegal POGO hub Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.
