Trafficking charges fabricated – Roque

FORMER Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque on Monday said the cases filed by the Department of Justice against him were manufactured, adding he was a victim of political persecution.

Roque, Cassandra Ong, and more than 40 others were facing a non-bailable trafficking charge over their alleged involvement in the illegal activities of the now-banned Philippine offshore gaming operator hub Lucky South 99 Corp. in Porac, Pampanga.

"As an outspoken Duterte ally, I have been subject to political persecution from the Kangaroo Court called Quad Committee investigation to the Bureau of Internal Revenue hounding me, to incitement to sedition charges because of the release of the polvoron video and now qualified human trafficking," Roque said in a statement posted on Facebook.

A shortbread cookie, polvoron is a Filipino adaptation of the Spanish polvorones. It comes from the Spanish word "polvo," which means powder.

The polvoron video is a video circulated on July 22, 2024, purportedly depicting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. snorting cocaine.

"I have been raised from childhood by a Department of Justice prosecutor. It therefore pains me that the independence of the National Prosecution Service has been tarnished by an administration highly addicted to power. I consider the latest action an unjust prosecution and a travesty of justice," he added.

Roque claimed that his inclusion in the charges was a mere afterthought.

"There is no evidence that I recruited, transferred, transported, or harbored Chinese or Filipino workers for forced labor and prostitution. It is likewise ludicrous to say that I have exploited workers through force, coercion, fraud, deception, or abuse of power," he said.

Roque has a pending application for asylum in the Netherlands where former president Rodrigo Duterte was currently detained, awaiting trial for crime against humanity allegedly committed during his bloody drug war.

He said he would mention in his application for asylum that he was a victim of political persecution because of his loyalty to Duterte.