Saturday, October 30, 2021

Harry Roque slams Inquirer for malicious report on his ILC bid: ‘Whose human rights did I violate?’

By Prince Golez

Palace Spokesman Harry Roque on Sunday denounced the two stories the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) published on October 31, 2021 regarding his nomination for a seat at the International Law Commission (ILC).

Roque was referring to the articles “Protests mar Roque’s New York City reception” and “Asia-Pacific lawyers’ group opposes nomination of Roque to UN commission,” which, he claimed, were “clear instances of persecution by, and malice of, the Inquirer against me.”

“Sullivan is the standard. I am usually very tolerant when it comes to the mass media but on this instance, the lawyer in me knows that when the Inquirer accuses me of a war crime, then malice is present,” the secretary said in a Facebook post.

Roque, who was accused of being a ‘human rights violator’ in one of the articles, said he was not interviewed as regards the accusations against him.

“This is indubitable. By publishing (what is clearly an opinion) that I did not answer the accusations, PDI effectively represented that the questions were legitimate. So now PDI imputes that I am a war criminal and a human rights violator,” according to him.

“You impute that I am a war criminal. Even President Duterte is not being accused of war crimes. By the way, whose human rights did I violate?” he asked.

Roque also denied the first version of the report that “Bayan-USA and human rights organizations” rallied.

“I don’t know how you came up with the fact that there were ‘human rights organizations’ there. No human rights organization would deliberately push and box elderly waiters on the face, destroy property, and order food and beverage without paying for them. Please confirm your story with at least, the NYPD,” the Palace official added.

On its second story, Roque said the PDI did not qualify what the Confederation of Lawyers of Asia and the Pacific is and who are its members.

“All we saw at the time of publication is a Facebook page with no description and with no indication of who its members are. Its FB page merely describes it as a ‘lawyer and law firm’. It also claims to have a website but when we checked, the site is not up. There is only a photo. There is no information on the group. Yet, PDI legitimized the group and its claim,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Roque clarified that the UP Diliman Executive Council, which objected his ILC bid noting his ‘very poor track record’ in defending human rights and the rule of law, does not represent the whole UP system.

“PDI repeatedly cites in its stories that my alma mater opposes my bid to the ILC but it also deliberately refuses to qualify its stories. The UP Diliman Executive Council, led by Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, is the one that issued a statement against me. The Diliman executive council is NOT the UP system,” the spokesman said.

“PDI also repeatedly publishes that FLAG and NUPL oppose my nomination – but it does not qualify that both are headed by members of the opposition who are running for office. The above are clear instances of persecution by, and malice of, the Inquirer against me. The news reports from other newspapers were objective,” he concluded.