Harry Roque mulls over graft and admin raps vs AFP

Carmela Fonbuena

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Harry Roque mulls over graft and admin raps vs AFP
The lawyer also promises to return to Camp Aguinaldo one day, even after the military filed a disbarment case against him for entering a restricted area in its headquarters in October

MANILA, Philippines – After being slapped with a disbarment case by the Armed Forces, lawyer Harry Roque said he is mulling over graft and administrative charges against the military for keeping the suspect in the Jennifer Laude murder case to remain in US custody while detained at its headequarters in Camp Aguinaldo.

Roque, who is out of the country, made the statement on Tuesday, November 4, a few hours after the AFP filed a disbarment case against him with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

“I will also file graft and administrative charges against the AFP for allowing [Private First Class Joseph Scott] Pemberton to remain in US custody in Aguinaldo. This is contrary to Philippine sovereignty and hence, a breach of the oath of allegiance that the AFP took. This is also dereliction of duty,” he said. 

The lawyer said the military is also liable for contempt because disbarment cases are not supposed to be announced publicly. All proceedings are supposed to be confidential, added Roque, who said he feels “flattered” with the attention given to him by the AFP.

The University of the Philippines (UP) law professor said he’s ready to “answer it in due course,” referring to the disbarment case for alleged violation of the lawyers’ Code for Professional Responsibility when he entered a restricted area in Camp Aguinaldo in October. 

He assured the public that he will not be cowed and will continue to fight for the interests of his clients, the Laude family.

“My promise: I shall return to [Camp] Aguinaldo should there be a need for me to personally take custody of Pemberton in order to turn him over to Philippine authorities less subservient to the United States,” he said.

Roque is currently in Europe to attend meetings with the Council of Europe and UNESCO to discuss the killing of journalists, one of his advocacies, and linked this topic to alleged human rights abuses of the Philippine military.

Ironically, experts have identified the AFP as amongst the perpetrators of killings against our journalists,” he said.

Roque also urged the military to concentrate on its important missions after filing the case against him. “I hope that with its filing, the AFP can now concentrate on running after the Abu Sayaff and defending our territory in the West Philippine Sea,” Roque said.

The military had also filed a complaint against Marc Sueselbeck, the German fiancé of Jennifer Laude, who has been put in the Philippine blacklist, after he and Laude’s sister Marilou Laude climbed over a military perimeter fence on Octiober 22. 

Sueselbeck, who submitted himself to voluntary deportation and left the country on November 1, will not be allowed to return to the Philippines. – Rappler.com

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