MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte once threatened to kill Harry Roque, his former spokesperson, for constantly criticizing extrajudicial killings (EJK).
Duterte himself related the story on Tuesdays during the campaign rally of his party, the PDP-Laban, in Cainta, Rizal. Roque is running for senator under that party.
“Once upon a time, he was a critic of mine about extrajudicial killings. He kept on talking about that then,” Duterte said, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English. “Then I saw him. I said: ‘Roque, if you don’t stop talking about extrajudicial [killings], [CURSES], I will kill you. But then not really.”
Then Duterte recalled Roque’s reply: ‘That’s just an issue, mayor, a truth that people have to know about.”
And Duterte said “That’s okay. Just do that and I will salute you.”
As a human rights lawyer, Roque includes as part of his advocacies seeking justice for the victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and justice for slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude.
Roque’s critics earlier slammed him for sacrificing his role as a lawyer for his loyalty to the president who is linked to the killings that resulted from his drug war.
Roque drew flak for making statements that went against what he had been fighting for.
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