Ex-Palace spox Roque in Abu Dhabi, refutes human trafficking raps

Former presidential spokesperson Harrry Roque (File Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Benjamin Pulta, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. has formally refuted the human trafficking charges filed against him through a counter-affidavit supposedly originating from Abu Dhabi, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

In an interview, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said Roque’s counter-affidavit was brought by a defense lawyer to the scheduled preliminary investigation and had been notarized by Apostille by the Abu Dhabi embassy.

An Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document. It is issued by a country that is party to the Apostille Convention to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention.

“A counter-affidavit was submitted by the lawyers of Harry Roque. It would appear that he had a document which was notarized pero dun siya sa (but he is in) Abu Dhabi. So, the panel opted to give the respondent a chance to call for a clarificatory hearing which would be scheduled anytime between now and the 16th of December. The purpose is to clarify certain issues and find out really where Mr. Harry Roque is at this point in time,” Fadullon said.

On Oct. 28, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed human trafficking charges against Roque and two others for their alleged involvement in the operations of the Lucky South 99 Corporation, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub raided in Porac, Pampanga.

In a supplemental complaint filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Roque, Mercides Macabasa and Ley Tan were added to the complaints filed against Cassandra Li Ong, and 53 others in September for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by RA 10364, as further amended by RA 11862.

Roque sought the dismissal of the complaint saying that his inclusion in the Supplemental Complaint Affidavit was “mere afterthought.”

“My inclusion, as well as the inclusion of Whirlwind Corporation and Lucky South 99 Outsourcing, Inc. were mere afterthoughts. The inclusion of the two corporations was intended to cure the deficiency of the evidence presented both in the original complaint and the supplemental complaint affidavit that utterly failed to identify any overt act of trafficking or qualified human trafficking that will implicate me,” Roque said in his 22-page counter-affidavit.

He said there was no evidence indicating that he participated in the acts of trafficking, which include recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, obtaining, offering, hiring, providing or receiving a person purportedly trafficked – elements of human trafficking – and neither was there a conspiracy.

Roque also claimed there was nothing illegal in his accompanying Ong to a meeting with PAGCOR executives.

“(T)hat meeting on 26 July 2023 was for a legitimate purpose, i.e., to discuss the arrears of Lucky South 99, and how PAGCOR was intending to deny the pending application of the said corporation for the renewal of its Internet Gaming License should the arrears be not settled,” the counter-affidavit read.