THE Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the PNP – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) yesterday filed human trafficking charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in connection with the operation of a Philippine Online Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga earlier raided by authorities due to alleged illegal activities.
Aside from Roque, also included in the complaint sheet are Lucky South 99 security compliance officer Mercides Peralta Macabasa and accounting officer Ley Tan.
The PAOCC and PNP-CIDG on September 10 filed charges of human trafficking against Katherine Cassandra Li Ong and other Lucky South 99 officers also in relation to the operation of the POGO facility.
In its complaint, the PAOCC and PNP-CIDG alleged that despite Roque’s denials, narratives from resource persons indicated that he actively participated in the operations of Lucky South 99, including representing the company alongside Ong in a meeting with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to for the renewal of its license.
They cited the confirmation made by Pagcor assistant vice president Jessa Mariz Fernandez on July 26, 2023 that Roque and Ong discussed Lucky South 99’s debt of $456,593 which they attributed to alleged fraud by another respondent, former Technology Livelihood Resource Center chief Dennis Cunanan.
They added that witness accounts from local and foreign POGO workers outlined the alleged abuses at the Porac facility, which included human trafficking, kidnapping, illegal detention, and cybercrime fraud.
“These pieces of evidence shows the direct participation of respondent Roque in the furtherance of the illegal activity of Lucky South 99. Roque’s deep-seated involvement with Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind is further bolstered by the presence of his Executive Assistant in the person of Mr. Alberto Rudolfo Dela Serna living inside the compound of Lucky South 99 for free and who maintains a joint bank account with respondent Roque,” the complaint said.
“Respondent Roque benefitted from the fruits of the trafficking in persons operations and other illegal activities of Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind and he kept silent about it. As an officer of Lucky South 99, respondent Roque knows that there is something not right about what is happening inside the compound and he intentionally withheld such information from the police or from any law enforcement agents,” it added.
It said that Roque could not claim that he did not know what was happening inside the POGO compound as he was privy, through Dela Serna, to all the activities of Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind.
As to Macabasa, the complaint said she “participated in the human trafficking and other illegal activities of Lucky South 99 and cooperated in the commission of these offenses by performing another act without which these crimes could not have been commissioned.”
The complaint also alleged that Tan cooperated in the commission of the offenses when he became the head of the accounting department of Lucky South 99 and became in-charge of financial and accounting transactions.
“Respondents Roque, Macabasa and Tan, as well as all the other respondents in the original complaint, confederated and mutually helped each other to facilitate the illegal acts of Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind. Each one performed an act that gave rise to the commission of illegal activities,” the complaint said, adding that without their respective participations, Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind could not have done the illegal activities inside the Porac POGO compound.
‘TRUMPED-UP CHARGES’
In a statement, Roque dismissed the allegations raised in the complaint as mere “trumped-up charges” and said these were fabricated to satisfy those in the upper echelons of power.
“Malinaw na pinilit lang itong kaso para matuwa ang nasa itaas. Wala akong kinalaman sa POGO at sa operasyon nito. Mayroon ba akong ni-recruit at pinagtrabaho na Pilipino o Tsino sa Lucky South 99, para ako makasuhan ng qualified human trafficking? (These were fabricated to satisfy those in the upper echelons of power. I have no knowledge or involvement in POGO or its operations. Did I recruit any Filipino or Chinese to work in Lucky South 99 for me to be sued for qualified human trafficking?),” he asked.
“They had no evidence linking me against POGOs and obviously manufactured some now just to implicate me. The PAOCC spokesperson himself admitted in one of his media interviews that they have fished information from the witch-hunt hearings of the kangaroo court called quad committee just to link me in POGOs,” Roque said.
He also questioned the timing of the filing of the case, saying it could have been lodged to divert the attention of the public away from issues hounding the Marcos administration.
“The timing of the filing is likewise questionable. Isa itong paraan para mapagtakpan ang kahihiyan ng Marcos Jr. administration sa rescue efforts ng mga sinalanta ng bagyong Kristine. Maliwanag sa disaster briefing videos na nag-viral na clueless at na-overwhelmed si PBBM sa nangyaring kalamidad (This is a diversionary tactic to cover up the inefficiency of the Marcos administration in the rescue efforts for victims of storm Kristine. The disaster briefing videos that went viral showed that PBBM was clueless and was overwhelmed by the calamity),” he also said.
