Interpol’s arrest of Roque looms large

Following the conviction of former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, Philippine Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Dr. Winston John Casio said Atty. Harry Roque is not “merely lawyering” in relation to his alleged involvement in human trafficking and abuses linked to the Lucky South 99 Philippine Offshore Gaming operation.

Casio said the regional trial court’s ruling in Guo’s case upheld the prosecution’s theory that direct participation is not required for liability in trafficking cases; knowledge of a business’s true purpose is enough to establish involvement.

According to Casio, the same case theory was used in filing complaints against Roque and Cassy Ong — grounds, he said, to assert that Roque’s role goes beyond legal representation.

“This one, we are convinced that Mr. Roque and Cassidy Ong — that their business is instituted and incorporated for the purposes of conducting trafficking of persons. That is why we are going to chase them,” Casio said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Over the weekend, Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian said Roque is “counting his days outside the country” as the Department of Justice (DoJ) moves to cancel his passport.

“Since there is a warrant for his arrest, what the DoJ move did is to cancel Roque’s passport and inform the Interpol through a red notice to arrest him,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.

Casio said Roque’s case is complicated by his application for political asylum in the Netherlands. Despite this, the PAOCC has requested a red notice through the Philippine Center on Transactional Crime.

For now, the government has issued a yellow notice alert against Roque, which allows Interpol to monitor and report his status and location.

Casio also stressed that there is no “political prosecution” against Roque. He said that at the early stage of the investigation, when Roque’s name first surfaced, he had even told the media there was no legal basis to prosecute him.