Lawyer Harry Roque will return to his position as Presidential spokesperson more than a year after he stepped down and withdrew his senatorial bid last year.
Salvador Panelo, President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal counsel and current Presidential Spokesman, confirmed the news Monday.
“Yup, Harry Roque will be back to his previous post. I’m still the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel. I will be performing the same role as the President’s chief lawyer and issuing statements as such,” Panelo told reporters in a text message.
Roque resigned from the position to run as a senator in 2019. However, he withdrew his candidacy a few days before the campaign period started. He revealed he has a heart condition that may affect his campaign.
“I recently suffered from an unstable angina coronary disease, which required me to undergo a percutaneous coronary intervention. The recovery process needed by my heart and body will not be compatible with the physical rigors of an earnest and sustained election campaign,” Roque said.
Roque is a known human rights lawyer who represented victims of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, the kin of Palawan-based environmental advocate and journalist Gerry Ortega who was gunned down in 2011 and the family of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude, killed by a U.S. Marine in 2014, among others.
Harry Roque said he would be officially reporting as Presidential Spokesperson at 4 p.m. Monday, April 13.
Also read: Palace spokesperson Panelo accepts commute challenge
Meanwhile, Salvador “Sal” San Buenaventura Panelo is a Filipino lawyer who serves as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Criticisms and controversies also surrounded Panelo’s appointment as the Palace’s spokesman. In his 40 years of law practice, he served as the defense lawyer of prominent politicians such as Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. who was implicated in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez who was tried for the 1993 Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez murder, and the family of former President Ferdinand Marcos in relation to recovering their ill-gotten wealth.
Panelo also lawyered for former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos, who was embroiled in the 2007 elections scandal, Philip Medel, who was convicted in the murder of actress Nida Blanca, and the family of slain racing champion Enzo Pastor. His other clients include celebrities such as Deniece Cornejo in her 2014 rape case against actor Vhong Navarro and Dennis Roldan, who was convicted of kidnapping a Filipino-Chinese boy in 2005.