Roque seeks ‘better-looking,’ younger deputy

Harry Roque Jr. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

A deputy younger and “better-looking” than acting presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. will be appointed to balance his combative stance.

At his first press briefing in Malacañang, Roque said his deputy would be the link between  72-year-old President Duterte and the millennials.

“Well, No. 1, I want a millennial. No. 2, I want someone better-looking than me so that the women will fall in love with him. And I want someone who speaks better than me,” Roque said on Thursday.

He said he needed a deputy spokesperson because he would not be in Malacañang all the time, as he would hold press briefings in Marawi City on Wednesdays.

He said his office would be independent of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) but he would work closely with Secretary Martin Andanar, the PCOO head.

Roque said he was not able to sleep on Wednesday night because he had to prepare for his first encounter with the Malacañang Press Corps.

“Now, I can sleep,” he told reporters afterward.

First Palace briefing

Roque said he enjoyed his first briefing with Palace reporters.

“I thank the media, the Malacañang Press Corps, for being very gentle on our first briefing,” he said.

He said he expected a “healthy, exciting and fun” working relationship with members of the Malacañang Press Corps.

Explaining his threat to throw hollow blocks at the President’s critics, Roque said, “The message I wanted to send to the [President’s supporters] was I have the back of the President covered.”

Stones, bread

He said people could take his message literally or figuratively. “But what I meant was, since I believe in the free marketplace of ideas, stones hurled are welcomed, but expect to have bigger stones thrown back at you.”

Antonio La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, joked that he would throw back “bread” at Roque.

“If he will throw hollow blocks, we will throw bread. Human rights is something you shouldn’t fight over,” La Viña said.

Roque, who earned a name for himself as a human rights lawyer, said he was a “firm believer” in freedom of expression and freedom of the press and that he did not see his threat as a damper on public discourse.

Appointment papers

Roque said he remained a member of the House of Representatives until the Palace released his appointment papers.

“When my papers are issued, I will resign. For now, I remain in the rolls of the House of Representatives,” said Roque, a representative of the party-list group Kabayan.