Senatorial aspirant Harry Roque, a human rights lawyer who previously backed the indemnification of Martial Law victims, defended former senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. from the allegations and controversies surrounding his family and his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
According to Roque, Bongbong was only 15 years old when Martial Law was declared in 1972, noting that he sees no charges of corruption and human rights violation to the presidential aspirant.
"Bilang isang abugado, sinisigurado ko sa inyo, wala akong nakitang kahit anong kaso pagdating sa pandarambong o paglabag ng karapatang pantao laban kay Bongbong Marcos," Roque said during the campaign trail in Batangas.
[As a lawyer, I assure you, I see no charges when it comes to corruption and human rights violations against Bongbong Marcos.]
"Sa mga tumutol sa mga panahon ng administrasyon ng kanyang ama, 15 years old si Bongbong Marcos noong 1972," he added.
[To those opposing and criticizing his father’s administration, Bongbong was only 15 years old in 1972.]
Roque made the statement after Marcos' party Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) announced that he will join their senatorial lineup for the 2022 national elections.
Marcos Sr. assumed office in 1965, with his term finally ending in 1986 with his family’s ouster from Malacañang in light of the historic EDSA revolution. At that time, Marcos Jr. was already 28 years old and was serving as the governor of Ilocos Norte.
Roque is running for senator under the People’s Reform Party, the party under the late former senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.
He was a former law professor at the University of the Philippines and a former human rights lawyer before he joined the Duterte administration as a presidential spokesperson from 2017 to 2018.
