Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque will be included as a person of interest in the ongoing investigation of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) into the proliferation of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in the country.

“With this development, we will include former spokesperson Harry Roque in our investigation. But of course, we need documents from all the agencies involved to prove the ownership of the property,” said PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz at Wednesday’s joint hearing of the House committee on public order and safety and the committee on games and amusement. 

Cruz made the pronouncement following reports that Roque purportedly owned the house in an exclusive subdivision in Tuba, Benguet, where two foreign nationals are said to be involved in POGO. 

Roque admitted to the panel that he has an “interest” in the corporation that owns the house—the PH2 Corp.—primarily owned by Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc., which he previously told in a Senate hearing that he and his wife, Mylah, were shareholders.

“The only problem is, we are in the process of distributing property within the family. Right now, the property is not really mine. But we agreed that I want to retain this property,” Roque said in the vernacular.

According to Roque, the property has been rented by a Chinese national, Huan Yun, since January of this year. He said Yun entered into a lease contract, which he later admitted, that Mylah is a signatory. 

During the hearing, the panel’s vice chairperson, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, also called into question Roque’s alleged link to Cassandra Lee Ong, the reported authorized representative of Lucky South 99. The PAOCC earlier tagged Ong as a person of interest in its investigation into the POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.

Pimentel cited Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) chief Alejandro Tengco, who earlier said Roque accompanied Ong to the agency to have its POGO license renewed.

Roque admitted that he escorted Ong but denied Pimentel’s allegations. He asserted that he accompanied Ong only to ask PAGCOR to allow Lucky South 99 to reschedule the payment of its unpaid taxes, which were projected to be at least $500,000.

“I don’t think Mr. Al Tengco will go on nationwide TV telling lies,” Pimentel countered.

“You are denying that it is not because of the renewal of the license but because of the fee. But it's still the same issue because you cannot renew your license until such time that the $500,000 will be paid. The ultimate objective is for the renewal of the license,” Pimentel added.

Pimentel then ordered to subpoena Ong for repeatedly defying congressional summons.