Roque decries POGO probe gone 'too personal'

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque lamented that the ongoing probe by the quad committee at the House of Representatives into the proliferation of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), in which he was implicated, has become "too personal."

"Mr. Chair, with all due respect, this is a legislative inquiry on POGOs and I think it has become too personal already," Roque told the so-called mega panel during its second hearing on Thursday. 

Roque made the remark in response to Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro's request for him to furnish the quad committee with a copy of the trust agreement between the Roque family and Atty. Percival Ortega, who was hired by the clan as trustee.

"I will submit a copy of the deed of sale of the property to show that the money that we used to acquire the property in Bataan was legitimately sourced and did not come with POGOs. But, I think family matters should be left alone already," Roque added.

The request for the said agreement follows Luistro's query about the "sudden change" in the general information sheet (GIS) of Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc. in March 2020 and October of the same year. 

Biancham's GIS in March showed that Roque and his wife, Myla, own 98 percent and 2 percent of the corporation, respectively. 

However, in October 2020, GIS stated that Biancham was 99.99 percent owned by Ortega.

According to Roque, Biacham was incorporated as early as 2015. The first incorporators included himself, his wife, his then-partner Joel Butuyan, and two other associates.

Earlier, Luistro also took issue with Biancham's assets, which only amounted to P125,300 in 2014, increased to P3,125,000 in 2015, and skyrocketed to P68,775,800 in 2018. 

"With all due respect Atty. Roque, where did this huge amount of money come from?" she asked. 

Roque responded that their family sold 1.8 hectares of land in the Multinational Village in Paranaque to the Velarde Group for roughly P260 million, later divided among their siblings. The property is now owned by SM Group, according to Roque.

Roque said the property's proceeds were invested in a real estate project in Bataan, but the bulk of the funds used to acquire the land belonged to his late aunt.

"We had to put it first in the name of a lawyer in trust as we arranged eventually how the property will be divided amongst us. My aunt has since died and we are now in the process of settling her estate. And so Atty. Ortega stands as trustee representing the estate of my aunt and that's why there had to be an organization [to Biancham GIS]," Roque explained

"All of us executed trust agreements to Percival Ortega because he will be eventually the one to divide amongst us the property." 

Luistro, meanwhile, insisted that quad comm be furnished with a copy of the transfer of the shareholding from Roque and his spouse to Ortega.

"I wish to go back to our previous committee hearings, Mr. Chair. We have established a number of circumstantial evidence already, which taken together, will lead to one reasonable conclusion that our resource speaker has connection to Lucky South 99," Luistro pointed out.

Roque countered, "I will comply, Mr. Chair but may I be allowed to say that I defer with the good congresswoman's conclusion that circumstantial evidence [has] linked me with POGO."

"I assert that my relationship with Cassandra Ong was a professional relationship and I think the deed of sale over 1.8  hectares of land will prove where we source the funds to buy the Bataan property," he lamented. 

Ong, a client of Roque, is allegedly one of the incorporators of Lucky South 99, which was raided by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission earlier this year over allegations of illegal activities.

Roque previously claimed he escorted Ong to the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation to allow Lucky South 99 to reschedule the payment of its unpaid taxes, which were projected to be at least $500,000.

He, however, categorically denied that he worked as the legal head of Lucky South 99. 

Later in the hearing, Roque was cited in contempt for lying to the quad comm on why he missed its first hearing on 16 August in Porac, Pampanga.

Roque told the panel that he could not attend the hearing due to his scheduled appearance at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC).

However, Kabayan Partylist Rep. Ron Salo presented a certification from the RTC's Clerk of Court, showing  Roque had no scheduled hearings on the said date. The certification indicated that Roque's court appearance was held on 15 August, contradicting his excuse.

Roque will be confined in the House of Representatives for 24 hours.

Salo is also keen that Roque is the legal head of Lucky South 99.

"POGO Lucky South 99 organizational chart submitted to PAGCOR states that you are Lucky South 99 legal head. You facilitated a meeting of Lucky South 99 with the PAGCOR chief Tengco and you were with Cassandra Ong and requested for Lucky South 99 session of payment and yet Secretary Roque, you denied [being] lawyer of Lucky South 99," Salo stressed.

"I'm just wondering who are you trying to fool? We're not actually born yesterday, Secretary. Do you think you can hoodwink people in this hearing and the Filipino people? Of course, deny as much as you want, but the overwhelming pieces of evidence point to one thing. Any reasonable person will come to an unmistakable conclusion [that] you are part, or perhaps a lawyer of Lucky South 99," Salo concluded.