Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque (PHOTO FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FB PAGE)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives quad committee can lift the contempt order issued against former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque if he attends the hearings and submits the documents required from him, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said on Wednesday.
During an online briefing with reporters covering the House, Barbers said that their call to Roque is still the same — to be cooperative with the quad committee, which is conducting a probe on illegal activities linked to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
“Well very simple ang aming panawagan sa kanya, marami naman siyang kaibigan dito sa Kongreso and we just want him to be cooperative with the members of the quad, so that makatulong din siya sa ferreting out of the truth,” Barbers said.
(Our appeal is simple. Since he has many friends here in Congress — we want him to be cooperative with the members of the quad so that he can help in ferreting out the truth.)
“If in these documents that we require of him will prove that he has no participation or any involvement in these illegal Pogo operations of Lucky South 99, then we would be more than willing to perhaps mend ways with Atty. Harry Roque,” he added.
Lucky South 99 is the Pogo firm that was raided last June 4 for human trafficking issues. During that raid, authorities found documents bearing Roque’s signature.
Roque also admitted later on that he accompanied Katherine Cassandra Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Corporation — the company that leased land to Lucky South 99 — to settle fees with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
Due to these alleged ties, the quad-committee invited Roque to the hearings.
Roque, however, maintained that he only accompanied Ong to Pagcor and was not lawyering for the Pogo firm.
When asked to clarify if the contempt order will be lifted, Barbers reiterated that Roque initially promised to submit the documents sought by the quad committee, like his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SALN) and tax declarations of his companies.
“Well, once he appears before the committee and submits all these documents required of him, we will definitely lift the content order against him. So, that’s what we are waiting for, the reason why he was excited in contempt is because he did not submit the documents required of him,” Barbers said.
“Again, he promised to submit these documents. That’s the reason why he was cited for contempt. In fact, he appeared before the quad committee hearings twice — so, we’re just surprised that on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh time, he did not appear and he did not submit the documents,” he added.
Roque was cited for contempt by the quad-committee — for the second time — after he skipped the hearings last September 12 and refused to comply with a subpoena on key documents, like his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, and other tax declarations.
The quad-committee released an arrest order recently, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) has been tracking down Roque ever since.
But in a video posted on his Facebook page last September 16, Roque maintained that he is not a fugitive of law because it is only a branch of Congress that made the declaration — adding that he will not allow himself to be arrested until the Supreme Court (SC) rules on the matter.
But on Tuesday, the SC denied Roque’s prayer for a writ of amparo, as the High Tribunal believes the said request was not not the proper remedy against congressional contempt and detention orders.