Roque called to Senate, House hearings on Pogos

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque

MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque is now being sought by the Senate and the House of Representatives to inquire into his alleged links with illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), after a House joint committee moved to invite him and four others to face an inquiry on the proliferation of illegal Pogos in the country.

On Wednesday, the House joint committee on public order and safety and games and amusement led by Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez moved to invite Roque, former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chair Andrea Domingo, convicted pork barrel scam player and alleged Pogo company lawyer Dennis Cunanan and a certain Cassandra Lee Ong for the next hearing on illegal Pogos.

It was Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong who made the motion to summon them, saying it was important that they shed light on what he said was now a “national security” concern.

READ: Roque: Pagcor chief did not say I lobbied for illegal Pogo firms

The House motion comes a week after Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate committee also investigating Pogos in the country, said she would invite Roque to explain his alleged links to Lucky South 99, an allegedly illegal Pogo raided in Porac, Pampanga, last month. The company listed him as its “legal officer.”

Ong supposedly serves as the corporate secretary of a company called Whirlwind Corp., which is also linked to Lucky South 99. Graft convict

Cunanan, a former government official who was convicted of graft in 2023, supposedly represented Lucky South 99.

Domingo was invited to help provide more details about the illegal Pogo situation during her tenure from 2016 to 2022.

Roque became embroiled in the illegal Pogo controversy after current Pagcor Chair Alejandro Tengco revealed that former President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson and Ong sought a private meeting with him to ask for help in settling Lucky South 99’s arrears amounting to over $500,000.

Roque has denied in a press statement being there for Lucky South 99, saying he was there only to help Ong as he thought Lucky South 99, which serves as Whirlwind’s principal, was a victim of estafa.

He said his client was Whirlwind, which retained his law firm “to quash a search warrant in a residential dwelling in Porac mistakenly described as a ‘resort’ by police authorities.”

There to help client

But during the House panel hearing, Tengco rebutted Roque’s claim and said they did not talk about Whirlwind.

“With all due respect to former Secretary Harry Roque, we did not discuss Whirlwind at all, it was never in the discussion. He was helping out a client, that was my impression,” Tengco said, referring to Lucky South 99.

He added that Pagcor and Whirlwind had “no relationship whatsoever.”

“I do not know of their activities but definitely there has never been a relationship,” Tengco said.

Also during the hearing, the joint committee called for an “immediate and decisive crackdown” against the 402 remaining illegal Pogos across the country to put an end to the widespread criminal activities linked to them.

Among others, Fernandez underscored the need for interagency cooperation and urged the mayors and heads of business permits and licensing offices in cities and municipalities hosting Pogo hubs to take responsibility for verifying their location and whether they were licensed to operate, and enforcing the closure of illegal operations.

Mayors’ responsibility

Committee member Rep. Richard Gomez agreed, saying that since the Pogos were operating under various local government units, it was the responsibility of the mayors “to make sure that they’re not operating anymore.”

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) provided information on the locations and operations of 402 illegal Pogos across the country, which includes Pogos with canceled licenses or identified scam farms.

The majority of these illegal Pogos are in Metro Manila, according to PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz.

He said PAOCC’s operations against these Pogos uncovered extensive illegal activities, including human trafficking, torture and prostitution.