Harry Roque cited in contempt, to be detained for lying to House panel
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has been cited in contempt and has been ordered to be detained for 24 hours by the House of Representatives Quad committee after supposedly lying about his absence from the Aug. 16 congressional hearing.
Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo said on Thursday, Aug. 22 that Roque sent a letter dated Aug. 13 to Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the overall chair of the quad committee, saying he will not be able to attend the Aug. 16 hearing due to a scheduled appearance at the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC).
However, Salo presented a copy of a certification from the Manila RTC that Roque had no scheduled hearing on the said date. His court appearance was held on Aug. 15, contrary to his excuse.
“Clearly, Attorney Harry Roque, our former Secretary, and my former professor, law professor, lied to this committee," Salo said.
"And that amounts actually to disrespect on the members of the committee, which is contemptible under Section 11E of the Rules of the House of Representatives on inquiries in aid to legislation," he added. Salo then moved to cite Roque in contempt.
“I therefore move, Mr. Chair, that Atty. Harry Roque be cited in contempt for disrespecting the members of this committee when he lied in order to evade attending the hearing of this committee where he was invited,” Salo said.
Roque apologized, saying that it was an honest mistake.
“It was an honest mistake. I’ve also been a member of this chamber. We don’t hold hearing on Fridays. So, when I saw the notice of the meeting, I assumed that just like the first and second hearings where I attended, it would be on a Thursday, and that is true that I had a hearing in the morning and the afternoon, and that is why I sent that letter,” he told the panel.
“By the time that I realized that it was a Friday and there was in fact a hearing, it was close already to lunch time and the hearing was in Pampanga. I apologized for the honest mistake,” Roque added.
He explained: “Today is also a Thursday. It was an instance of ‘Okay, there’s a hearing. It’s Thursday. I have a hearing on Thursday’ I sent the letter right away, not realizing 16 was a Friday. It was an honest mistake. Had I had any intentions not to appear, I would not appear today as well."
He stressed, “I have no wish to disrespect the same body that I became part of, which I considered at some point in time a happy place, the House of Representatives.”
In consideration for admitting his “honest mistake” and being a former member of the lower chamber, the House quad panel has placed him in detention for 24 hours.
Roque is under investigation for his alleged link to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) after the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission found documents bearing his signature in their raid of the Pampanga hub.
The commission has since cleared his name, saying the documents found in the Lucky South 99 compound were "innocent" and "not of suspicious or criminal nature."
In late July, he also denied owning the raided Tuba, Benguet house where two foreign nationals with alleged ties to POGO were arrested.