FORMER presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied on Monday, July 29, 2024, owning the residential house in Tuba, Benguet where two foreign nationals allegedly linked to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) were arrested over the weekend.
Roque admitted, however, having an interest in the corporation that owns the raided house.
“Ang bahay po na tinutukoy niyo sa Tuba, Benguet ay rehistrado po sa isang korporasyon. Tinirhan ko po ‘yan noong ako ay umalis ng gobyerno and I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it. Pero wala po sa akin ang possession ng bahay na ‘yan, dahil as of January of 2024, ‘yan po ay pinaupahan ng korporasyon,” he said during the resumption of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
(The house you are referring to in Tuba, Benguet is registered to a corporation. I lived there when I left the government and I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it. But I do not have the possession of that house, because as of January of 2024, it is rented by the corporation.)
“Ang umuupa po ay isang Huan Yun na isang Chinese national na nu'ng siya po ay pumirma ng contract of lease ay rinequire siya na magpakita ng Alien Certificate of Registration at lumalabas po na siya ay holder ng isang 9G working visa. Meaning, she has the right to be in the Philippines,” he added.
(The lessee is a Huan Yun who is a Chinese national and when he signed the contract of lease, he was required to show an Alien Certificate of Registration and it turns out that he is the holder of a 9G working visa. Meaning, she has the right to be in the Philippines.)
On Sunday, July 28, the Bureau of Immigration (BI), together with the elements of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), arrested Chinese national Wang Keping, 35, and her Cambodian companion, Khuon Moeurn, 37, in a house in a posh neighborhood in Tuba.
The two arrested individuals were allegedly involved in the operation of the illegal Pogo raided in Bamban, Tarlac in March.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the arrested foreign nationals were facing deportation charges for failure to provide proper documents for their stay in the Philippines.
Roque said the arrested male individual is the partner of the lessee.
He said that according to the caretaker’s account, the arrested man is a "gentleman of leisure" and only goes out of the house to play golf in a nearby golf course. He also works as a digital nomad involved in cryptocurrency.
Roque said allegations linking him to illegal Pogos only intended to taint his reputation.
“So nais ko po talagang malaman kung ano 'yung ebidensya na 'yung lalaking 'yon ay involved sa Bamban dahil kung hindi naman po, eh talagang meron pong concerted effort na i-link ako dito sa mga Pogo na akin namang tinatanggi po,” he said.
(So I really want to know the evidence that links that man to the Bamban Pogo because he is not involved, there is really a concerted effort to link me to the Pogos which I deny.)
During the Senate inquiry on July 10, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco said Roque accompanied Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of the Lucky South 99, the illegal Pogo raided in Porac, Pampanga, to his office sometime in July 2023 where they raised the problems of the firm, particularly the non-remittance of its six months’ worth of arrears valued at around $500,000 by former deputy director of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center Dennis Cunanan.
Tengco said Ong and Roque asked him to allow the Pogo firm to reapply for their license to operate, which was then set to expire in two months.
Roque earlier explained that he only accompanied Ong in the meeting because he thought that Lucky South was a victim of estafa.
He clarified that his client was Whirlwind Corporation, which was then the service provider of the raided POGO hub. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)