Dutch airport authorities removed former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque from a Schiphol-bound flight to Vienna after raising issues related to his travel readiness and the European country responsible for reviewing his asylum request.
Roque, who has been staying in the Netherlands while seeking protection in Europe, said the incident unfolded shortly after he boarded. Airline staff and border officers asked him to confirm whether he intended to continue to Austria, the state that issued his Schengen visa and is tasked with assessing his claim under the Dublin Regulation.
“They asked me: ‘Do you really want to fly?’ I said, ‘Of course not,’” he said during an online interview, explaining that his own doctors had advised against long-distance travel following surgery. Dutch immigration physicians, he said, reached a different conclusion and labeled him “fit to fly.”
He recounted that, before boarding, he became uneasy after noticing a fellow Filipino passenger he believed to be connected to law enforcement taking photos and video of him at the gate. According to Roque, Dutch officers later confirmed a 10-second recording had been deleted from the man’s phone, and the individual was allowed to proceed on the flight.
“I was upset. Why did they let that person fly? As an asylum seeker, there is a real threat to my life,” he said, noting that Filipino supporters in The Hague waited at the airport until the issue was settled.
Roque also addressed circulating claims that he had been detained during the episode. “No one arrested me. I am free here in The Hague,” he said.
Back in Manila, the Department of Justice commented on the matter, saying it trusts the Austrian authorities to evaluate Roque’s application according to their established process. “We believe the relevant asylum authority in Austria will do the necessary research and validation of the information that attorney Harry Roque will be giving them,” Chief State Counsel Dennis Chan said.
Chan underscored that applicants must lodge their request in the country where they seek refuge. “If attorney Roque is asking for asylum in the Netherlands, then he should be in the Netherlands to process his application. If, based on his statement, the Austrian government will give him asylum protection, then he should be in Austria,” he said.
The DOJ added that it could not verify Roque’s statement that Dutch immigration officials arranged his flight due to the confidentiality requirements attached to asylum proceedings.
Roque is currently facing qualified human trafficking charges in connection with the operations of the Philippine offshore gaming operator Lucky South 99, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission earlier disclosed that the Philippine government requested an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest.
