In the words of Harry Roque, the House of Representatives used to be his “happy place.” These days, he condemns that same institution for subjecting him to an alleged “trial by publicity.”
Lawmakers, for numerous hearings now, have been trying to establish a direct link between their former colleague and a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator in Porac, Pampanga. The inquiry is part of a larger attempt by Congress to uncover criminal activities tied to POGOs, which boomed under the previous administration, of which Roque was the spokesperson.
The chamber is known for its spirit of collegiality, with lawmakers often giving preferential treatment to former members invited as resource speakers.
Roque’s history as a lawmaker, however, was not enough to escape the contempt citation against him, as well as the rare punishment of detention imposed on a former member of Congress.
So how did he get there?
Critics have long derided the political transformation of Roque — from the human rights champion who strongly opposed Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential candidacy, to being the loyal mouthpiece and ardent defender of his policies.
But often overlooked in his résumé is his brief stint in the House of Representatives, as congressman of the multi-sectoral party-list group Kabayan, from June 2016 to October 2017. Two interrelated events accentuated that episode in Roque’s political career.
First was the role that he played in the House inquiry into the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison. The probe was seen as a means to persecute then-senator Leila de Lima, key critic of Duterte’s bloody anti-narcotics campaign, by digging into her track record as secretary of the Department of Justice, which supervises the state penitentiary.
Roque was among the lawmakers whose line of questioning raised eyebrows, as he focused on De Lima’s supposed frailties as a woman. Interrogating her former lover Ronnie Dayan, Roque at one point quipped, “Do you think that you took advantage of Leila De Lima’s weakness as a woman when you had a relationship?”
Second was the infighting within Roque’s party-list group, which resulted in efforts to kick him out of Kabayan, as well as the House. Roque’s enemies in the group cited as grounds for expulsion his disorderly behavior when he asked sexually-laden questions about De Lima.
It was a feud that devolved into a messy legal battle and a public word war between Roque and his fellow Kabayan lawmaker Ron Salo, Roque’s godson and former law student. The spat hit a pause after Roque left Congress to serve in the Duterte Cabinet at the tail end of 2017.
Roque, who has always nurtured his ambition for higher office, sought a senatorial seat in the 2022 elections under the ticket of dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr., even though he was once a staunch critic of the Marcos family. Marcos won the presidential election by a landslide, while Roque ranked 17th in a race for 12 senatorial spots.
Roque’s efforts back then to cozy up to the Marcoses would eventually prove futile, following the President’s falling out with the Dutertes, to whom Roque continued to be loyal.
Roque, in several appearances on the pro-Duterte television outlet SMNI, would repeatedly lambast his former colleagues in Congress, accusing them of engaging in institutional corruption.
“Do you want me to expose where congressmen are getting their profits?” Roque dared one time. “In my case, I didn’t benefit from that scheme because even when I would be allocated a budget, it would be stolen by district congressmen who control district engineers.”
The House would later remind Roque that it had not forgotten his combative tone.
In July, both the House and the Senate separately sought Roque’s presence in their congressional inquiries into the POGO scandal.
Roque was implicated in the controversy after a document showed he was listed as legal head of Lucky South 99, a shady POGO hub in Pampanga whose workers were allegedly trafficked and tortured.
He repeatedly dismissed allegations of direct ties with Lucky South, saying he didn’t consent to the inclusion of his name in any documentary submission by the POGO firm. The country’s gaming regulator chief insisted that Roque represented Lucky South 99 when it was trying to reapply for a license, but Roque claimed to have only lawyered for a real estate firm that had leased its land to the illegal POGO hub.
“It seems that coincidence follows him around and could explain everything, but fact of the matter is, Lucky South 99 seems to hound Mr. Roque,” 1-Rider Representative Rodge Gutierrez said. “At best, there is a link with Lucky South 99. At worst, this a terrible string of coincidence.”
The lawmakers’ interrogation of Roque expanded over time. At first, it was only about the Lucky South connection, as well as the house in Benguet where authorities caught a Chinese fugitive with suspected links to POGOs.
But by the third hearing attended by Roque, House members were already sifting through financial documents of companies that he had ties with. Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro even asked Roque for a copy of a trust agreement within the family over a Parañaque property. She argued that such a document could rule out doubts regarding the increase in the cash assets of Biancham, a holding company previously owned by Roque, from P125,300 in 2014 to P67 million in 2018.
“This is a legislative inquiry on POGOs. I think it has become too personal already…. Family matters should be left alone already,” Roque said, to which Luistro replied: “Let the quad committee verify where all the money came from.”
Lawmakers rarely raised their voice, but tense exchanges underscored Roque’s damaged relationship with members of Congress.
Take for example other comments that some House members made towards Roque.
Roque countered: “What evidence do you have that Lucky South was the one that financed the land that I purchased? I showed you I sold our 1.8 hectares of land and the money from that was used to purchase [another property]. You can have your own conclusions, but the question remains — what did I do wrong?”
The gotcha moment of the nearly 11-hour hearing on August 22 — one of the longest yet in the 19th Congress — came from Roque’s political nemesis.
Salo, whose feud with Roque remains unresolved to this day, presented to the panel a copy of a Manila court certification to debunk his former professor’s excuse for his absence from an August 16 congressional inquiry, to which he had been invited.
Roque had said he had a scheduled court appearance that day; records show he didn’t. Salo accused Roque of lying to the committee; Roque said it was an honest mistake as he thought the hearing was on August 16.
“I therefore move that Attorney Harry Roque be cited in contempt for disrespecting members of this committee,” Salo said.
“Maraming namamatay sa maling akala (Many people die from wrong assumptions). Bear that in mind,” House dangerous drugs committee vice chairperson Romeo Acop also told Roque.
Deliberations that lasted for an hour ensued. House public order and safety committee chairperson Dan Fernandez found an opportunity to bring up Roque’s past remarks against the chamber. “You maligned each and every member of this House by [saying] that we are all corrupt…. We are very [hurt] by what you have said.”
House human rights committee chairperson Bienvenido Abante and Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza both initially expressed reservations about citing a former lawmaker in contempt, but ended up not contesting the motion.
As there was no verbal objection to Salo’s motion, it was adopted without having to go through a vote.
The irony is not lost on political spectators eight years since Roque became a lawmaker. In 2016, he was among the interpellators when the Duterte-allied House worked to destroy the political capital of Leila de Lima. In present day, the tables have turned. De Lima was recently cordially welcomed by the same chamber that once antagonized her as it sought her expertise on the excesses of Duterte’s drug war. Roque, on the other hand, got a brief taste of a life without freedom.
For “lying” to the panel, Roque was punished with detention that lasted only 24 hours. He was released from House custody on the night of August 23.
“This is a demolition job,” Roque said, insisting that his detention was meant to silence him for his defense of the Dutertes and criticism of the Marcos administration.
“I will not wish, even to my fiercest political opponents, to be deprived of their personal liberty and freedom,” added Roque, who, once upon a time, infamously wished De Lima a lifetime in jail. The former senator was recently acquitted of all Duterte-era drug charges after spending nearly seven years behind bars.
House insiders point to different reasons why Roque’s supposed comeuppance happened this way. Some say it’s the chamber’s way of sending a message to a man carelessly speaking ill of an institution he used to be part of. Others believe his barely one-year stint in the House was not enough to establish solid ties that could have gotten him out of trouble.
One ranking House officer speaking to Rappler on condition of anonymity has this take: “Congressmen don’t like it when you have to remind them that just because you are formerly a House member, you cannot be detained. You can watch him lie through his teeth. He knows how to tell a lie; he’s been a spokesman for so many years.”
House leaders are undeterred by criticisms of recklessness when it comes to issuing contempt citations. They say Roque is not above the law, and they don’t intend to hold back should Roque mislead the committee again.
“This is not overkill, because if you try to look at the records of those who are detained, there were bases for their detention,” House dangerous drugs committee chairperson Ace Barbers said.
Roque’s predicament in the House is far from over, as the chamber promises to conduct more marathon hearings into the country’s POGO situation.
Can Roque survive — in his own words — the “character assassination”? – Rappler.com
