MANILA – Former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday bared he is seeking for a comeback in the House of Representatives (HoR) in next year’s mid-term elections, saying he took the advice of President Rodrigo R. Duterte who earlier said his chances of winning a seat in the Senate are slim.
Roque said that instead of running for senator, he will run as party-list representative by filing a certification of nomination for environmental party-list – Luntian Pilipinas Partylist – on Tuesday, Oct. 16.
“I am taking the advice of the President. While it was always my intention to file a certificate of candidacy for the position of Senator, I will actually file tomorrow (Tuesday) a certification of nomination for party-list under Luntian Pilipinas Parylist, which is an environmental party-list group,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
Roque said he will be the party-list’s first nominee while former actress Ciara Sotto, daughter of Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, will be second nominee.
He said his choice of running for an environmental party-list was influenced by landslides that happened in Itogon, Benguet during the onslaught of Typhoon “Ompong” last month, and the President’s “unrelenting” campaign to protect the environment.
“If you recall, the President has repeatedly said that he wants open pit mining closed and this will be the advocacy that we will be pushing in Congress,” Roque said.
Roque, a human rights lawyer, said environmental rights are also human rights saying that “without the environment, without ecology we would not have life that would enable the realization of all other rights.”
He said as former director of the Institute of International Legal Studies at the University of the Philippines, international environmental law was one issues he gave focus on.
Difficult climb
Roque said he took the President’s advice because of limited resources and low ratings in senatorial survey results, among other reasons.
“I took his advice that the best option right now is to go back to Congress which was really was one of my options. Masikip talaga ang Senado (It’s cramped in the Senate). We have seven re-electionists and five comeback senators in addition to the new faces. And finance has always been a hindrance,” Roque said.
“I knew that it would be a very difficult climb to the Senate if I were to persist. My problem too was that we had three consecutive surveys and only the awareness was increasing not the conversion. So it was really a hard reality to accept that perhaps we need to do more to convince the people that we are worthy of the Senate,” he added.
Roque, however, expressed confidence that returning to the House would allow him to continue serving the people through public service.
“It really does not matter if I go to the House or to the Senate. It’s something I had proved that with determination and with dedication that we can in fact carry out our obligations and our functions as legislators be it in Congress or in the Senate,” Roque said.
Prior to being appointed as presidential spokesperson last year, Roque was Kabayan party-list representative for 16 months where he passed a number of significant legislations.
“I had almost all of the bills of national significance passed. I’m very proud of my Universal Health Care which I passed as early as August of last year before I transferred to Malacañang. There’s the Free Irrigation, there’s Free Lunch Program, and now the amendment to the HIV/AIDS law including the Free Tuition,” Roque said.
Old self
Roque, who described himself as “highly opinionated,” said by seeking a seat in the House of Representatives, he will be able to express his own views which he had to restrain from when he was Duterte's spokesperson.
“It was different when I was a spokesperson because there was no distinction between myself and his personality so I had to be very restrained,” Roque.
“It’s time to be my own person again. I knew that as a spokesperson I had no personal views, that period has ended. I’m able now to freely advocate for the many issues that are close to my heart,” he added.
Roque, however, added that despite having different views on some of the President’s policies, such as going strongly against the reimposition of death penalty, Duterte recruited him as his spokesman because he respected him.
“From the very beginning, even before I was recruited for spokesperson, I had to ask the President, ‘You do know I voted against death penalty?’ and he said, ‘Yes’ so that was no problem. Because as a pro, I knew that my personal opinions would not matter since I would have to be advocating the position only of the President,” Roque said.
“But even as my own person, I think the President has always respected who I am and would respect instances where I may have criticism because he knows I do not seek to overthrow him, I only want the best for this administration because his success means the success for the entire Filipino people,” he added.
No regrets
Roque added that he had no regrets about accepting Duterte’s offer to be spokesperson, noting that he and the President are parting on “very good terms.”
“It was my intention to serve the people by serving the President and I think I was able to send and communicate to the people the achievements as well as the goal of the Duterte administration,” Roque said.
“And yes, it was a pleasure also to defend the President against his detractors because it is my firm conviction that anyone who has been given a democratic mandate must not only be respected but must be supported so I have absolutely no regrets as far as that’s concerned,” he added.
Not fit for press secretary
Roque, meanwhile, said he was “surprised” by the President’s previous offer to him to head the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) but rejected it, noting that he did not feel that he was fit for the job.
He explained that it was clear to both him and Duterte that he initially had his eyes set run for senator in next year’s polls.
“I was surprised that the offer came for press secretary. I did not think that I was the best person for that job because I really am not from the press,” Roque said.
“Being a spokesperson can be different from being press secretary because he would have to head all the state information, infrastructure including an actual TV station, an actual news agency, an actual news bureau and I never had any experience as a journalist so to me it was a very good offer for which I am grateful but it’s really a post I did not feel I had adequate training for,” he added.
Roque also said that being press chief would not be apt for him because he was “very candid” with responses.
Last Oct. 3, Sotto and other senators said they are looking into the possibility of reverting the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) back to the Office of the Press Secretary.
Sotto explained that some members of the Senate are considering this move noting that the PCOO was only created to “accommodate political friends of the previous administration.”
During the previous administration, the OPS was split into the PCOO and the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO). The latter’s functions have already been transferred to the PCOO. (PNA)
