The House of Representatives has served an arrest order at the law office of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Friday.
Roque was cited in contempt and ordered detained by four House committees, known as the QuadComm, on Thursday after he refused to submit documents regarding the increase in his wealth.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Quadcom leader and chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said Roque has refused to submit copies of his Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), documents related to his family firm Biancham, a subsidiary in Benguet called PH2, and the deed of sale of a 1.8 hectare Paranaque property.
Roque had earlier promised to comply with the lawmakers’ request of producing vital documents which would prove that he has no interests tied to POGOs.
Barbers said Roque should be man enough to stand by his promise, that he would comply and submit the documents requested of him by the panel, instead of criticizing and dishing out his frustrations against the panel via various social media platforms.
“The problem with Mr. Harry Roque is that he has a lot to say outside of Quadcom. You come here (at Quadcom), speak and justify your refusal to submit documents face to face. Not on social media. Let’s debate here. Also, please be man enough and stand by what you promised to deliver to the panel,” Barbers said.
Barbers said that Roque’s executive assistant, AR dela Serna, was man enough to admit before the Quadcom panel that they have a joint bank account in the amount of P3 million.
Aside from the issuance of an immigration lookout, Roque would be detained until the Quadcom hearings terminate, or until he complies with the subpoena, according to Barbers.
Quadcom panel member Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said the panel discovered that Roque’s assets had risen from P125,000 before 2016 to P125 million in 2018.
“If he (Roque) will not be able to prove the legal and valid source of this sudden increase in assets of his family-owned Biancham, then there is reasonable ground to believe that indeed he is connected with POGO operations, and this money possibly came from POGO operations,” said Luistro.
Roque was linked to the POGO controversy for accompanying and helping Cassandra Li Ong, an official of Whirlwind and Lucky South 99 gaming firm, to pay off arrears totaling US$500,000.
He has admitted, on record, to being lawyer for Whirlwind, the company that leased its Porac compound to Lucky South 99.
The former spokesman of President Duterte, in a social media post, labeled the Quadcom as a ‘kangaroo court’ which is wasting government money on hearings that have proven nothing.
The Quadcom, the first of its kind in the chamber’s history, combines four House panels – Dangerous Drugs panel led by Barbers, Human Rights led by Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante, Public Order and Safety chaired by Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano and Public Accounts chaired by Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez.
The four committees were previously conducting separate investigations on POGOs, EJKs and illegal drugs and had the same resource persons and similar or interrelated subjects.
