Who is Harry Roque & Was He Arrested? Rumors Amid Passport Cancellation Controversy

Filipino lawyer and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has refuted rumors of his arrest in the Netherlands, showing evidence of his travel plans during a Facebook Live session. The speculation followed a Pasig Regional Trial Court order canceling his passport over alleged connections to a human trafficking case and an illegal POGO hub, Lucky South 99.

To clarify the situation, Roque posted a picture of his boarding pass on Facebook on November 25, showing his flight from Amsterdam to Vienna, Austria. He wrote that the arrest rumors were untrue. The Department of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that he had not been detained in the Netherlands. “There is no truth to the rumors that I have been arrested. I have a scheduled flight to Vienna, Austria today, November 25,” Roque said.

During the Facebook Live with content creator Maharlika, Roque revealed he had undergone major surgery last month and another procedure just days ago. He also described delays during his travel when airlines initially considered him unfit to fly. Netherlands immigration authorities later issued a fit-to-fly certificate, allowing him to continue his journey.

Roque suggested that the arrest rumors were politically motivated distractions from recent corruption exposés in the Philippines. He referenced the 2024 flood corruption scandal, which sparked a massive protest in Manila attended by approximately 650,000 people. Former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co recently released videos implicating Sandro Marcos, son of President Bongbong Marcos, in alleged misappropriation of flood control funds.

“It must be our high best friend. Of course, because they are diverting the issue from Zaldy Co’s numbers four and five [videos], which include a P50-billion insertion also involving Sandro Marcos… Zaldy Co keeps reiterating that the mastermind of corruption in the flood control projects is none other than our foolish president. So they don’t want the attention on themselves, so they look for a diversion,” Roque stated during the livestream.

He concluded by saying that the rumors would not affect him, joking that he would be “eating in a nice restaurant” rather than being imprisoned.

Stay tuned for more updates on Harry Roque and developments regarding the passport cancellation case.