Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. has officially denied the human trafficking charges levied against him through a counter-affidavit reportedly originating from Abu Dhabi, as stated by the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
In a recent interview, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon explained that Roque’s counter-affidavit was submitted by a defense lawyer during the scheduled preliminary investigation and had been notarized via Apostille by the Abu Dhabi embassy.
An Apostille serves as a certificate to authenticate the origin of a public document. It is issued by a nation that is a participant in the Apostille Convention for use in another nation that is also a party to the Convention.
“A counter-affidavit was submitted by the lawyers of Harry Roque. It appears that he possessed a document which was notarized pero dun siya sa (but he is in) Abu Dhabi. Consequently, the panel decided to afford the respondent an opportunity to call for a clarificatory hearing, which will be scheduled at any time between now and December 16. The objective is to elucidate certain matters and ascertain the current whereabouts of Mr. Harry Roque,” Fadullon said.
On October 28, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) filed human trafficking charges against Roque and two additional individuals for their purported involvement in the operations of the Lucky South 99 Corporation, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub that was subject to a raid in Porac, Pampanga.
In a supplemental complaint submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Roque, Mercides Macabasa, and Ley Tan were included among the complaints against Cassandra Li Ong and 53 others, for violations of Republic Act (RA) 9208, known as the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by RA 10364, and further amended by RA 11862.
Roque has sought the dismissal of the complaint, asserting that his inclusion in the Supplemental Complaint Affidavit was an “afterthought.”
“My inclusion, along with the addition of Whirlwind Corporation and Lucky South 99 Outsourcing, Inc., was merely a reactive measure. The inclusion of the two corporations was meant to address the evidential deficiencies presented in both the original and supplemental complaint affidavits, which failed to identify any overt act of trafficking or qualified human trafficking that would implicate me,” Roque stated in his 22-page counter-affidavit.
He articulated that there exists no evidence indicating his participation in trafficking activities, encompassing recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, obtaining, offering, hiring, providing, or receiving a person allegedly trafficked – all elements defining human trafficking – and asserted that no conspiracy existed.
Furthermore, Roque emphasized that there was no impropriety in his accompaniment of Ong to a meeting with PAGCOR executives.
“(T)hat meeting on July 26, 2023, was conducted for a legitimate purpose, specifically to discuss the outstanding arrears of Lucky South 99, and to address PAGCOR’s intentions to deny the pending application of the aforementioned corporation for the renewal of its Internet Gaming License should the arrears remain unsettled,” the counter-affidavit indicated.