Harry Roque should be disbarred

“Palace Pinocchio” Harry Roque should be disbarred. Once lawyering on behalf of some fisherfolk in Zambales and Pangasinan who were being harassed in the West Philippine Sea by the Chinese Coast Guard, he now brazenly lawyers for China in the fishermen’s complaint against the bully that keeps on doing what it has been doing all these years, to the detriment of their livelihood.

The editorial “Who’s parroting whom?” (7/16/21) took note of the fact that this time around, Roque has taken up the cudgels for China despite evidence-based “abuse and bullying of those whom (China) considers interlopers in the (South China Sea),” like his own former clients. Many years ago, Roque had no problem branding China as a “rogue state” for claiming that the West Philippine Sea is “its lake and, hence, part of its internal waters.” He vehemently denounced that claim as “utterly bereft of legal merit.” Now, in exchange for the dubious fame and fortune attached to his main duty of sanitizing all the codswallop that President Duterte spews in constant praise of China, Roque has no problem eating his words. Lawyers have been disciplinarily dealt with for lesser instances of malfeasance.

GEORGE DEL MAR
[email protected]