Roque’s wife told to attend hearings to avoid possible contempt order

MANILA, Philippines — Mylah Roque, wife of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, can always attend the hearings of the House of Representatives’ quad-committee to avoid getting a contempt order, which would lead to arrest, Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop said.

Acop in a radio interview on Monday extended the invitation, reminding Mylah that there is an existing show-cause order over her absence during the last quad-committee hearing.

READ: House panel looking for Roque also puts pressure on his wife

“She can attend the hearings and say that she refuses to answer because she might incriminate herself. But if she does not attend, that is one of the heaviest violations of our rules, she can be cited for contempt, for not respecting our invitation,” Acop, vice chair of all four panels in the quad-committee, said in an interview with Radyo 630.

READ: Harry Roque’s wife slams Barbers, says no paper links her to Pogo

READ: Barbers spurns remarks of Roque’s wife: I’m not an abusive person

“If you would not honor the subpoena, we will request that an arrest order be issued against her,” he added. “If the quad committee schedules a hearing and she does not show up despite the invitation, we will issue an order to cite her (for) contempt.”

‘Abusive individual’

Mylah last Saturday called quad-committee lead presiding officer and Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers an “abusive individual” for supposedly claiming that she is an incorporator of Lucky South 99, the Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga that was raided for human trafficking issues.

Mylah said there was no paper linking her to Lucky South 99—the same firm that lawmakers claim Harry was a part of.

Barbers rejected this statement from Mylah, saying that it was her husband that was linked to the raided Pampanga-based Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo).

Harry was linked to Lucky South 99 after documents bearing his signature were found by authorities during the raid. He also admitted later on that he accompanied Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Corporation that leased land to the raided Pogo hub in Porac, to settle fees with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

Due to these alleged ties, the quad-committee invited Roque to the hearings.

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.

An arrest order was released recently by the quad-committee, and the Philippine National Police (PNP) has been tracking down Roque ever since.

‘Not a fugitive’

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 rules on the matter.

READ: Harry Roque told: ‘Flight is often an indication of guilt’

“Will I have myself arrested or not? Well I believe that if Congress violates limits on its powers and becomes guilty of grave abuse of power and grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction, the order is illegal,” Roque said.

“I subscribe to the need for the Supreme Court to decide on the matter, that’s why I will wait for the Supreme Court’s decision,” he added.

Barbers however clarified that the quad-committee is not interested in the Roque family’s wealth, noting that they just want to know the involvement of two companies where Harry is involved—Biancham Holdings and PH2 Corporation.

Last September 17, Barbers reminded the public that Chinese national Sun Liming, one of the two illegal aliens arrested in a Tuba, Benguet home last July 31. Sun initially claimed that he was a Cambodian national, but he was revealed to be linked to fraud cases in China, aside from working for Lucky South 99.

Previously, Harry admitted that he partly owns the Tuba house, adding that he used to live in that house after leaving the government, adding that he has “an interest in the corporation that owns it.”