House quad-comm cites Roque for contempt a 2nd time

Manila Bulletin

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque can't seem to catch a break.   The House quad-committee on Thursday, Sept. 12 once again cited the lawyer for contempt, this time for failing to submit documents subpoenaed by the solons investigating his potential links to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO).   READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/12/house-quad-comm-cites-roque-for-contempt-a-2nd-time-here-s-why  Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin  Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin  Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin  #ManilaBulletinOnline #ManilaBulletin #LatestNews

Transcript

00:00As mentioned by the Honorable Paduano, the QUADCOM is in possession of the

00:06omnibus motion and compliance dated September 9, 2024, filed by Attorney Harry

00:15Roque. And I wish to remind the QUADCOM that this motion originated from our

00:24hearing on August 22, 2024, where, in the various questions we propounded, Attorney

00:35Harry Roque expressed his commitment to produce the documents. To explain, Mr.

00:42Chair, this omnibus motion and compliance is made up of two parts. The first part

00:48is the motion to quash, that is from paragraph 1 to 33, and the second part is

00:54the compliance to the SHOCOS order, which is reflected in page 34 to 43. This

01:02representation wished to make a manifestation with respect to the motion

01:06to quash filed by the Attorney Harry Roque. In support of the above motion, Mr.

01:14Chair, he raised the same arguments which have been deliberated upon already

01:20during the last hearing. And to satisfy the requirement of due process, Mr. Chair,

01:26let me reiterate our answers to the arguments which he raised. First, that the

01:34hearing is not in aid of legislation. In answer to that, let me explain, Mr. Chair,

01:40this QUADCOM was created to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation pertaining

01:47to four issues which are haunting us. One is dangerous drugs, two is extrajudicial

01:55killing, three is the en masse acquisition of land, and four is the POGO

02:01operation. In other words, Mr. Chair, we are indeed an exercise of our power to

02:09conduct inquiry in aid of legislation which is granted by no less than the

02:14Philippine Constitution, Mr. Chair. Second, Attorney Harry Roque argued that the

02:20documents requested are not germane to the inquiry in aid of legislation. Again,

02:26in the case of Arnold versus Nazareno, there are two requirements. One is

02:33materiality to the subject matter, and second is materiality to the possible

02:39legislation. With respect to the first requirement, Mr. Chair, it is the humble

02:45submission of this representation that the QUADCOMMITTEE has established an

02:50overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing the connection of Attorney Harry

02:57Roque to Lucky South Corporation, which is a POGO operator where we apprehended

03:04Chinese nationals, victims of human trafficking, murder, and internet scum.

03:11Mr. Chair, at the height of the interpolation, we ask about the Biancham

03:18Corporation, which owns the property in Tuba, Benguet, where the IT employee of

03:25this Lucky South was apprehended, and that is where we started investigating

03:31Biancham, and then it was followed by our investigation on the subsidiary

03:36companies. As we investigate on Biancham, Mr. Chair, we found out the sudden

03:42increase of his assets in 2018, coming from 125,000 before 2016. In 2018, the

03:54current assets of Biancham rose to 125 million. At the height of the

04:01interpolation, Mr. Chair, Attorney Harry Roque articulated that his money did not

04:08come from POGO operation. To emphasize, Mr. Chair, that statement did not come

04:15from QUADCOMM, did not come from this representation. Instead, it came from the

04:21mouth of Attorney Harry Roque. This is an admission, therefore, Mr. Chair, that he

04:27admits the connection of these documents, which we are requiring from him, from the

04:34investigation on POGO operation that we are conducting right now. To further

04:41explain, Mr. Chair, it was admitted that he was the presidential spokesperson

04:47during that time, with a very limited income, and then we asked him, where did

04:53this 65 million come from? Where did this money come from? And he could not

04:58explain, except that he sold a certain property in multinational company in

05:03Paranaque. To conclude, Mr. Chair, there is a question about the source of the

05:10money of Biancham Corporation, which belongs to Attorney Harry Roque, and

05:14following his question, if he will not be able to prove the legal and valid

05:20source of this sudden increase of assets of Biancham, then there is a reasonable

05:25ground to believe that, indeed, he is connected with POGO operation and this

05:31money possibly came from the POGO operation. The second element, Mr. Chair,

05:37is the materiality to the possible legislation. And during the last hearing,

05:43Mr. Chair, we reiterated, what are the laws that can be amended in connection to this

05:53Quadcom hearing? And we cited RA 3019. This is the Anti-Graft and Corrupt

06:00Practices Act, in case our government officials are corrupted because of this

06:09POGO operation. We also have Code of Professional Responsibility of

06:14Government Officials that we need to revisit already. These, the provisions of

06:20this law to make sure that the government officials and employees do

06:25not deviate from what is being mandated by the Code of Professional

06:29Responsibility of Government Officials. We also have anti-money laundering.

06:35Is the provision of anti-money laundering insufficient? And there were

06:40transfers of huge amounts of money in spite of the existence of this law. We

06:45also have corporation law. Why are corporations using shields in

06:51perpetrating illegal activities? We can also consider, Mr. Chair, the Code of

06:57Professional Responsibility and Accountability for Lawyers. Is this still

07:02safe if the lawyer is already protecting illegal activities of their

07:06client? In addition to this, Mr. Chair, we have established already the need to

07:12revisit the laws such as the PSA Charter because our law on late

07:21registration was abused. Our immigration law on visa issuance, the PACOR Charter on

07:27licensing of POGO, and the Cybercrime Law or R810-175. Mr. Chair. Yes, Congressman

07:36Flores. Mr. Chair, as extensively discussed by Congressman Luistro, stating the

07:41grounds why we are in the right as far as our requests for him to submit

07:47these documents and his continued refusal to submit these documents to

07:51this squad committee, Mr. Chair. I move, Mr. Chair, that we hold Harry Roque in

07:56contempt, Attorney Harry Roque in contempt, for refusing to submit the

08:00document subject of the subpoena de susticum and of which he has manifested

08:06that he was going to submit to this committee, Mr. Chair. I so move, Mr. Chair.

08:10There is a motion to cite Attorney Harry Roque in contempt and this was duly

08:17seconded. Are there any objections? Hearing none, the motion is carried. Now

08:23just for clarification, we are citing Attorney Harry Roque in violation of

08:29Section 11. D. Paragraph D. Paragraph D, Mr. Chair, for refusing to comply with the

08:35subpoena de susticum and to submit the documents we requested of him, Mr. Chair.

08:40Now, Mr. Chair, in addition, Mr. Chair, I move that we hold Harry Roque in

08:47detention for the period of until he submits the documents or until the quad

08:54committee is dissolved, Mr. Chair. There is a motion to detain Attorney Harry

09:02Roque as long as this committee conducts its hearing and until we

09:09terminate or until he submits or until he submits the documents required of him.

09:14Yes, Mr. Chair. And this was duly seconded. Are there any objections? Hearing none,

09:20the motion is approved.

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Transcript

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