Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, representative of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) that was raided in Porac, Pampanga, asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop both houses of Congress from violating her constitutional rights during legislative investigations in aid of legislation.
In her petition filed on Wednesday, Sept. 11, Ong asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would stop the committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives from violating her constitutional rights to remain silent, against self-incrimination, and legal counsel of her choice.
Ong also asked the SC to stop the congressional committees “from exerting any undue pressure and influence, committing any acts or intimidation or threats of verbal, mental or psychological abuse.”
At the same time, she asked the SC to stop the committees’ “acts of punitive nature resulting from invocation of my constitutional rights, threats of any sanction against my lawyer for the exercise of his profession of counselling me.”
Her petition was signed by lawyers Ferdinand S. Topacio and Raphael Antonio M. Andrada.
Named respondents in the petition are members of the Senate TriComm Sen. Aquilino Pimental, chair of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights; Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality; and Sen. Raffy Tulfo, chair of the Committee on Public Services.
Also named respondents are members of the House Quad-Comm Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs; Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano of the Committee on Public Accounts; Rep. Dan Fernandez on Public Order, Safety and Accountability; and Rep. Benny Abante of the Committee on Human Rights.
Ong told the SC that “the right to remain silent and against being a witness against one’s self applies with equal force to legislative hearings.”
She said: “The acts of the respondents House Committees and/or the members in exerting pressure and influence unto the petitioner (Ong) to pressure her into giving information by isolating her from counsel, undermining her faith in counsel by using the floor of the House as a bully pulpit, terrorizing her with pictures of alleged torture victims and telling her that she would be charged with ‘non-bailable’ offense of human trafficking, making vulgar and improper insinuations, etc., are all intended to make her give up unwillingly her right to remain silent.”
“In doing so,” she said, “the respondent House Committees have clearly abused their powers and plainly exceeded their jurisdiction, with respect to inquiries in aid of legislation.”
The House QuadComm had cited Ong in contempt for failure to attend the hearings and issued an arrest order. At the time, Ong was already abroad together with dismissed Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, and her sister Shiela.
Ong and Shiela were arrested in Indonesia and were returned to the Philippines last Aug. 22. Alice Guo was also arrested in Indonesia and was repatriated to the Philippines last Sept. 6.
Last Aug. 26, Ong was turned over by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the custody of the House of Representatives.
Last Aug. 28, Ong was compelled to attend the QuadComm hearings. During the hearing, she submitted to the chairperson of QuadComm a letter expressing her refusal to testify as she invoked her constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to remain silent.
Nevertheless, the SC petition stated that she was constrained to answer several questions raised by the legislators.
At least some members of the House QuadComm believed that Ong was merely a “dummy” of the POGO in Porac, Pampanga.
Ong denied being a “dummy” as she told the committees that she was only an investor in Whirlwind, the real estate company that leased its property to Lucky South 99.
Last Sept. 10, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) filed qualified human trafficking complaint at the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Ong and 53 other respondents.
The complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, arose from the raid conducted on Lucky South 99 in Porac town.