Who helped Roque flee the Philippines? Quad-comm still wants to know
At A Glance
- The House quad-committee (quad-comm) wants to find out who are the personalities that helped former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque flee the Philippines last year.
Lawyer Harry Roque (Facebook)
The House quad-committee (quad-comm) wants to find out who are the personalities that helped former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque flee the Philippines last year.
This was part of the quad-comm's recommendations to the House plenary before the sine die adjournment of the 19th Congress.
It was September 2024 when Roque and his wife, Myla were reported to have left the country amid the quad-comm's investigation on them.
The Roques are seen key personalities in the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) controversy.
In its Committee Report No.1501, the quad-comm tagged the couple as having had [evaded] legal orders issued by the Joint Committee, and were reported to have flown to the United Arab Emirates after he was cited in contempt for failure to submit pertinent documents in the inquiry.
Accordingly, the Bureau of Immigration should investigate who helped Atty. Herminio Harry Roque, Jr. escaped, undetected, the quad-comm said.
Roque, who served as Palace mouthpiece for former president Rodrigo Duterte, had spent the better part of this year trying to gain asylum in The Netherlands. He has failed.
The special four-way panel led by overall chairman Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers also sought a criminal Investigation to find out the extent of Roque's involvement in the operation of Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind Corporation, among others.
Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga is an alleged illegal POGO hub that's jam-packed with rooms for Internet scams and torture. Solons suspect that Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind are the same company.
Accordingly, AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act) should initiate an investigation on the acquisition of his assets, said the quad-comm.
It said a freeze order over the assets owned by Roque should be applied for provided it is shown that they are materially inked, relates to, or involves predicate offenses defined in Republic 'Act No. 9160 (2001) or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
In any case, the relevant government agencies should be mobilized and tapped to locate him and bring him back to the Philippines, it said of Roque.
The House plenary adopted these recommendations.