The Supreme Court (SC) did not stop the enforcement of the arrest order issued by the House of Representatives’ Quad Committee (Quad Comm) against former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
In a resolution issued during its full court session on Tuesday, Oct. 1, the SC denied the reliefs sought in the petition for a Writ of Amparo filed in Roque’s behalf by his daughter Bianca Hacintha.
The petition sought from the SC the issuance of a temporary protection order (TPO) against the arrest order, and to stop the Quad Comm from requiring Roque to attend future hearings and producing documents.
Specifically, the petition told the SC that the arrest order and detention ordered by the Quad Comm against Roque “threatened his rights to life, liberty and security.”
The dismissal of the reliefs sought in the petition was announced during a press conference conducted by lawyer Camille Sue Mae L. Ting, SC’s spokesperson.
Ting said “the SC ruled that the Writ of Amparo is not the proper remedy against congressional contempt and detention orders.”
“The scope of Amparo is limited to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof which are not present in this case,” she said quoting from the SC’s resolution.
Nevertheless, Ting added that “the Court directed the Quad Committee to comment on the petition for prohibition within 10 days from receipt of the Court’s resolution.”
The Writ of Amparo is “a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity.”
Roque was ordered arrested and detained by the Quad-Comm after being cited for contempt a second time for failing to submit subpoenaed documents crucial to the joint panels’ investigation, including his tax records and statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).
Instead of complying, Roque has gone into hiding and vowed not to surrender.
In the course of its hearings, the Quad-Comm uncovered evidence that allegedly linked Roque to Lucky South 99, an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in Porac, Pampanga, which was raided last June, and where authorities unearthed evidence of illegal activities such as human trafficking, torture, scam farms, prostitution, and pornography.