House panel cites Roque, ex-PCSO GM in contempt

MANILA, Philippines —  Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma have been cited in contempt by the quad committee of the House of Representatives.

The joint panel yesterday cited Roque in contempt for the second time after he failed to submit subpoenaed documents related to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). Roque served as former president Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman.

Meanwhile, Garma was deemed to have lied to lawmakers during the joint panel’s probe into the 2016 killing of three convicted Chinese drug traffickers at the Davao penal colony.

Duterte is allegedly the mastermind behind the drug convicts’ deaths.

Roque is being questioned over his supposed engagement as a lawyer for Lucky South 99. Belongings  of his former Malacañang staff were seized during the June 5 raid on the POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga, following reports of human trafficking, torture and other criminal activities in the compound.

The subpoenaed documents, which include Roque’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, are crucial to the probe of the quad committee of the House of Representatives, Rep. Gerville Luistro said.

“The quad committee has established overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing the connection of Atty. Harry Roque to Lucky South 99, which is a POGO operation,” she said.

The joint panel ordered Roque’s detention.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, presiding chair of the joint panel, approved Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores’ motion after House members posed no objection.

This is the second time the quad committee cited Roque in contempt since its Aug. 22 hearing, wherein he lied about his absence from an earlier hearing.

Having missed the last three hearings, Roque was issued a subpoena compelling him to appear and testify at the next hearing.

Last week, Roque filed a motion to quash the subpoena and invoked his right to privacy and against self-incrimination.

Luistro argued that “the right of the people to access information on matters of public concern generally prevails over the right to privacy,” citing the case of Standard Chartered Bank vs. Senate Committee on Banks.

“In the hierarchy of rights, the right to information is much, much higher than a public official’s right to privacy,” she noted.

As for the right against self-incrimination, Luistro said it applies only to testimonial evidence.

Roque initially promised to provide the joint panel copies of the documents.

Rodrigo, the ‘big person’

Duterte is the “big person” behind the August 2016 killing of three Chinese drug lords in the Davao penal colony, according to the former warden of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF).

“The directive to kill the three Chinese suspects came from former president Duterte and this was implemented through Colonels Garma and (Edilberto) Leonardo using two inmates facing long prison terms at the DPPF,” Supt. Gerardo Padilla told congressmen yesterday.

Tiu Kin Tung, Li Lan Yan and Wong Meng Ping were reportedly stabbed to death by Leopoldo Untalan Jr. and Fernando Magdadaro, who were promised a reward of P1 million each.

Garma and Leonardo also allegedly promised to “fix” their cases.

Garma is former chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Davao. She opted for early retirement from the Philippine National Police in 2019, after Duterte named her head of the PCSO.

Padilla said he feared for his and his family’s life, which led him to omit some details about the 2016 incident in his first affidavit on Aug. 27.

In supplemental affidavits dated Sept. 4 and 9, Padilla changed his mind and directly implicated Duterte, Garma and Leonardo as the ones who ordered him to “just play along” in the plot to kill the drug lords.

Questioning Garma

During the hearing, Garma told House officials how she got the PCSO appointment despite her lack of qualification, as well as details of her retirement when she still had 10 years in service.

Garma denied that she was a trusted ally of Duterte.

Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano later extracted a “maybe” reply from Garma when asked if she had a close relationship with Duterte.

After being cited in contempt, Garma will remain under the custody of the House until the quad committee terminates its hearings.