DFA: No asylum info on Zaldy Co, Harry Roque

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cannot verify the asylum status of former congressman Zaldy Co and former presidential spokesman Harry Roque in Europe due to the region’s strict privacy regulations.

During the DFA’s budget hearing yesterday, Senate foreign affairs committee chairman Sen. Erwin Tulfo pressed Foreign Affairs Secretary Tess Lazaro on whether countries like France notify the Philippine government when a citizen applies for asylum.

“Mr. Chair, the European Union, France included, has very strict privacy issues. So if he has filed for asylum, we will not be given information because this is their law,” Lazaro explained. 

She noted that the Philippine embassies are denied this information upon inquiry, adding that the same restrictions apply to Austria regarding Roque’s status.

The DFA only learned of Co’s whereabouts through a tip from another European official.

“I think in the past, we only learned that Mr. Co is in France because it was mentioned to me by the minister of... Czech Republic,” Lazaro told the panel. 

“The foreign minister told me, he was taken and was already in France. That was the only information,” she added.

When Tulfo asked if the DFA could confirm reports that Roque’s asylum bid in Austria was denied, Lazaro reiterated that the Philippine embassy in Vienna has “no information at all” due to the host country’s basic tenets of strict privacy.

To address these legal barriers, Lazaro stated that the DFA consistently requests three key agreements during bilateral political consultations: extradition, transfer of sentenced persons and mutual legal assistance. 

However, she admitted that the Philippines currently lacks these specific treaties with the European countries involved.