Palace to Roque: Go home if you're concerned with gov't funds, resources

Malacañang on Wednesday hit back at former presidential spokesman Harry Roque for saying the government is wasting resources and money in trying to locate him.

If Roque is concerned with the government's resources, then he should go home, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said.

"Patungkol sa nag-aaksaya ng oras, ang paghahanap ng isang fugitive ay hindi pag-aaksaya ng oras. Kung siya ay concerned sa pondo ng bayan, dapat noon pang 2016. At kung sinasabi nga niya na siya ay concerned sa pondo ng bayan, hindi ba mas maganda kung magboluntaryo na siyang umuwi rito para hindi na siya pag-aksayahan ng oras at ng pera ng gobyerno?" Castro said in a briefing.

(Looking for a fugitive is not a waste of time. If he's concerned with the nation's funds, it should've started in 2016. If he's concerned with the funds of the government, wouldn't it be better if he'd just go home so the government would not waste time and funds for him?)

The Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has said tracker teams have been deployed to serve arrest warrants against Roque, Cassandra Ong, and several others.

They are subjects of arrest warrants for qualified trafficking in persons in connection with the alleged illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.

The arrest warrants were issued by Regional Trial Court-Branch 118, Angeles City, Pampanga.

Roque has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he has never been a legal counsel of any illegal POGO and was neither a counsel of Lucky South 99. He has also said he only accompanied Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99, in a meeting previously as he thought she was a victim of estafa.

The former presidential spokesperson is currently seeking asylum in The Netherlands.

Roque said the issuance of the arrest warrant forms part of the "unjust prosecution," which he intends to note in his asylum application in the Netherlands. He believes he is being persecuted by the Marcos administration, given that he is an ally of the Dutertes.

The former presidential spokesperson was cited in contempt and ordered detained by the House Quad Comm on September 13 after he refused to submit documents that would supposedly explain his increased wealth.

Before he resurfaced in The Hague following the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Roque was reported to have flown out of the Philippines after congressional hearings looked into his alleged involvement in Lucky South 99. — VDV, GMA Integrated News