Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday, August 1 questioned why a high profile fugitive is staying in former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s alleged residence in Tuba, Benguet.
In a statement, Hontiveros raised this question in connection to allegations that Sun Liming, the Chinese national who faked documents and posed as a Cambodian citizen named Khoun Mouern, was found and arrested during a raid conducted by authorities at the house Roque allegedly owns.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) intelligence division chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. had told the Senate women and children's panel they arrested a Cambodian and Chinese woman connected to the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac during the Benguet raid.
But it turned out that the Cambodian national was in fact, a Chinese national named Sun Liming.
Roque, during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, denied ownership of the residence in Tuba, Benguet where the said fugitive was staying with another Chinese national.
“Hindi lang basta-bastang Chinese ang nagtago sa sinasabing bahay ni Harry Roque. Itong si Sun Liming ay bigating pugante na nasa Red Notice ng Interpol (It wasn't just any Chinese who hid in the alleged house of Harry Roque. This Sun Liming is a fugitive who is on Interpol's Red Notice),” according to Hontiveros.
The senator also noted that Roque had claimed that the owner of the house in Tuba, Benguet is PH2 Corporation whose majority shareholder is Biancham Corporation.
Yet, Roque is also one of the incorporators of the company together with some of his associates.
“Inamin din ni Roque na may bantay siya mismo sa bahay, at supervised niya ang nangyayari dun (Roque also admitted that he himself had a guard at the house, and that he supervised what was happening there),” she noted.
“Kaya nakapagtataka na sa dami ng bahay sa Pilipinas kay Roque pa talaga napunta ang pugante (That's why it's surprising that with so many houses in the Philippines, the fugitive actually went to Roque),” the senator pointed out.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) also alleged that Liming is an Information Technology (IT) manager of Lucky South 99, the POGO company that Roque assisted when they wanted to settle their debts with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
“It appears this fugitive and Roque run in the same circles,” Hontiveros noted.
“Nakakabahala ang dami ng mga dayuhang kriminal na sa bansa dahil sa POGO. (The number of foreign criminals that are in the country because of POGO is worrying). While a ban was already announced, we, in the Senate need to craft measures to ensure that this industry never comes back again,” the lawmaker vowed.
During the Senate hearing, Roque explained that the house raided by authorities in Tuba, Benguet was actually registered under the name of the corporation.
“Tinirhan ko po ‘yan noong ako ay umalis ng gobyerno (I lived there when I left the government) and I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it. Pero wala po sa akin ang possession ng bahay na ‘yan, dahil as of January of 2024, ‘yan po ay pinaupahan ng korporasyon (But I don't possess that house, because as of January of 2024, it was rented by the corporation),” Roque had explained to the Senate women and children’s panel.