House cites Harry Roque for contempt, slapped with 24-hour detention

Manila Bulletin

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was cited for contempt by the House quad-committee (quad-comm) on Thursday night Aug. 22 for lying to the special four-way joint panel.   As a penalty, Roque was ordered detained at the House of Representatives for 24 hours.   READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/22/house-cites-harry-roque-for-contempt-slapped-with-24-hour-detention

Transcript

00:00Mr. Chair, in our last hearing on August 16, Friday, in Pampanga, Secretary Roque was invited

00:08by the Squad Committee.

00:10Attorney Harry Roque sent a letter dated August 13, 2024 addressed to the Honorable Chairman

00:16Robert S. Barbers, the lead chairman, informing Chair Barbers that he will not be able to

00:25participate in said meeting due to conflict with a previously scheduled court hearing

00:31before the Regional Trial Court of Manila on August 16, 2024, the same date of our Squad

00:37Committee hearing.

00:39I have here a copy of that particular letter.

00:42Mr. Chair, we have also in receipt here a copy of certification from Attorney Jennifer

00:48H. de la Cruz Buendia, clerk of court and ex-officio sheriff of Manila, RTC Manila,

00:57stating that Attorney Harry Roque has no hearing on August 16 and did not appear in the courts

01:04of Manila on said date.

01:07Mr. Chair, I hate to say it, but clearly Attorney Harry Roque, our former secretary and my former

01:15professor, law professor, lied to this committee, and that amounts actually to disrespect of

01:21the members of the committee, which is contemptible under Section 11E of the rules of the House

01:26of Representatives on inquiries in aid to legislation.

01:30I therefore move, Mr. Chair, that Attorney Harry Roque be cited for contempt for disrespecting

01:35the members of this committee when he lied in order to evade attending the hearing of

01:42this committee where he was invited.

01:44So moved, Mr. Chair.

01:51I did not quite hear what you said, Congressman Salo.

01:54Can you please repeat, are you moving for the committee to cite Mr. Attorney Harry Roque

02:02in contempt?

02:03Yes, Mr. Chair, pursuant to Section 11E of the rules of the House of Representatives

02:09in aid of legislation.

02:12So moved, Mr. Chair.

02:14One-minute suspension.

02:15Before we vote on the contempt, we would like to hear first the explanation of the reason

02:26behind his absence to this committee last year.

02:31Thank you, Your Honor.

02:32I was hoping to be given an opportunity to be heard.

02:35It was an honest mistake, Your Honor.

02:38I have also been a member of this chamber.

02:41We don't hold hearings on Fridays.

02:45So when I saw the notice of hearing, I assumed that just like the first and the second hearing

02:51where I attended, that it would be on a Thursday.

02:55And that is true, that I had a hearing both in the morning and in the afternoon.

03:00And that is why I sent that letter.

03:03By the time I realized that it was a Friday and there was, in fact, a hearing, it was

03:08also close already to lunchtime, and the hearing was in Pampanga.

03:15So I apologize for the honest mistake, but the truth of the matter is I have been here

03:22on Thursdays, so two hearings already, and I just assumed that just like in the past

03:29where we don't hold hearings on a Friday, that the hearing would be on a Thursday, as,

03:33in fact, today is also a Thursday.

03:36So it was an instance of, okay, there's a hearing, it's on Thursday again, and I have

03:41a hearing on Thursday.

03:42That's why I sent the letter right away, not even realizing that 16 is a Friday.

03:48That was an honest mistake.

03:51Had I had any intentions not to appear, I would not have appeared today as well.

03:56But in the first two instances, and those were the two instances where I was invited,

04:00I, in fact, appeared.

04:02I have no wish to disrespect the very same body of which I was a part of, which I consider

04:10at some point in time as my happy place, in fact, the House of Representatives.

04:15Thank you, Your Honors.

04:16Your assumption is wrong?

04:17Yes, it is wrong.

04:18And therefore, when you assume that it is wrong, you should be ready for the consequences.

04:25Isn't that how it should be?

04:28Yes, but there was no intent to disrespect this chamber.

04:33I'm not asking whether you have the intent.

04:34What I'm asking is, if you assume that it is wrong, shouldn't you accept the consequences?

04:43I will, of course, accept the consequences, the decision of this body.

04:48But since I was given an opportunity to be heard, I thought that there should be allowance

04:52for honest mistakes.

04:55I know that you have been practicing as a lawyer for a long time, isn't that so?

05:07Yes, Your Honor.

05:09And as a practicing lawyer, all of your schedules are set.

05:16For example, for the week, what is your hearing for the week, what is your appointment, it

05:21is all set, isn't that so?

05:23That is true.

05:24That is why, for the certificate, I really have a hearing on Thursday.

05:28And my assumption is wrong that the next hearing is not on Thursday because we are all on Thursday.

05:35What you mean to say is that it is not in your schedule that you should attend a hearing

05:40on Friday, on Friday?

05:42Yes, I put it on Thursday because our hearing is every Thursday.

05:47And then, as it is, all of you are at fault.

05:52None.

05:53Yes, but there is no intention to disrespect the Chamber.

05:59I am not questioning your intention.

06:01I am just questioning, as a practicing lawyer, what I know is that your lawyers are writing

06:08all of their schedules.

06:12In your case, if that event is in your book of schedules, you should know.

06:23To be honest, because I thought it was Thursday, I saw that the morning after my hearing,

06:28I immediately wrote to inform the committee as soon as possible because I really thought

06:33it was Thursday.

06:34Atty. Roque, many people have died because of wrong assumptions.

06:41Kindly bear that in mind.

06:43First person, Atty. Harry Roque, was cited in contempt for violating Section 11, Paragraph

06:51E of our rules.

06:54And after the contempt, the next, the proper motion is to follow Section 12, which speaks

07:06of the penalty.

07:08Is there any motion?

07:14Congressman Salo?

07:15Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

07:17Mr. Chair, and to this Honorable Committee, in consideration of the fact that the resource

07:22person, former Secretary Harry Roque, is my former law professor, fellow Cabayan Partylist

07:31Representative, and a former member of this House of Representatives, and in consideration

07:36also of his claim for honest mistake, and of course, the apologies that he has given

07:42to this committee.

07:43And finally, in consideration of personal relations, as he has mentioned a while ago

07:47that he was my Ninong, respectfully move, Mr. Chair, that the penalty be given be shortened

07:54to the barest minimum, which is just one day or 24 hours, Mr. Chair.

07:59Second the motion, Mr. Chair.

08:01There is a motion.

08:02Julie seconded to impose a penalty of 24 hours to our resource person, Atty. Harry Roque.

08:11Hearing no objection, the motion is carried.

08:16One minute suspension.

08:34Hearing is resumed.

08:41Congressman Abante.

08:44Mr. Chair, may I continue the interpolation here?

08:49And I would like to interpolate only Ms. Paterna and Ms. Macarenas.

08:56Okay.

08:57Before that, Congressman Abante, the ruling has been made on the contempt order of this

09:05committee to our resource person, Atty. Harry Roque, and imposing a penalty of 24 hours

09:12detention in the detention facility of the House of Representatives.

09:17After the committee hearing, may we ask Atty. Harry Roque to, at the LSB or the SAAD,

09:28the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, to assist Atty. Harry Roque to his detention center.

09:37Thank you, Mr. Chair.

09:39I would like to move for reconsideration.

09:41It is not the severity of penalty, but the deprivation of liberty that I am appealing from.

09:47I believe that the right to liberty is amongst the most important of basic human rights,

09:52and there being no showing that there was an actual lying, but an honest mistake,

09:57and there was no actual disrespect as evidenced by the fact that I have appeared

10:01three times out of the four invitations,

10:04I believe that any form of punishment by way of deprivation of liberty is unwarranted.

10:11Thank you, Mr. Chair.

10:13Thank you, Atty. Harry Roque.

10:14Let it be of record that Atty. Harry Roque is asking for a reconsideration

10:20on the contempt orders that the committee has issued.

10:26Under our rules, there must be, again, another vote on this,

10:33and since there is no motion to vote,

10:35we will have to wait for the time that,

10:40when we resume in our next hearing,

10:43we will probably consider the reconsideration,

10:47motion for reconsideration of Atty. Harry Roque.

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