00:00As mentioned by the Honorable Paduano, the QUADCOM is in possession of the
00:06omnibus motion and compliance dated September 9, 2024, filed by Attorney Harry
00:15Roque. And I wish to remind the QUADCOM that this motion originated from our
00:24hearing on August 22, 2024, where, in the various questions we propounded, Attorney
00:35Harry Roque expressed his commitment to produce the documents. To explain, Mr.
00:42Chair, this omnibus motion and compliance is made up of two parts. The first part
00:48is the motion to quash, that is from paragraph 1 to 33, and the second part is
00:54the compliance to the SHOCOS order, which is reflected in page 34 to 43. This
01:02representation wished to make a manifestation with respect to the motion
01:06to quash filed by the Attorney Harry Roque. In support of the above motion, Mr.
01:14Chair, he raised the same arguments which have been deliberated upon already
01:20during the last hearing. And to satisfy the requirement of due process, Mr. Chair,
01:26let me reiterate our answers to the arguments which he raised. First, that the
01:34hearing is not in aid of legislation. In answer to that, let me explain, Mr. Chair,
01:40this QUADCOM was created to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation pertaining
01:47to four issues which are haunting us. One is dangerous drugs, two is extrajudicial
01:55killing, three is the en masse acquisition of land, and four is the POGO
02:01operation. In other words, Mr. Chair, we are indeed an exercise of our power to
02:09conduct inquiry in aid of legislation which is granted by no less than the
02:14Philippine Constitution, Mr. Chair. Second, Attorney Harry Roque argued that the
02:20documents requested are not germane to the inquiry in aid of legislation. Again,
02:26in the case of Arnold versus Nazareno, there are two requirements. One is
02:33materiality to the subject matter, and second is materiality to the possible
02:39legislation. With respect to the first requirement, Mr. Chair, it is the humble
02:45submission of this representation that the QUADCOMMITTEE has established an
02:50overwhelming circumstantial evidence showing the connection of Attorney Harry
02:57Roque to Lucky South Corporation, which is a POGO operator where we apprehended
03:04Chinese nationals, victims of human trafficking, murder, and internet scum.
03:11Mr. Chair, at the height of the interpolation, we ask about the Biancham
03:18Corporation, which owns the property in Tuba, Benguet, where the IT employee of
03:25this Lucky South was apprehended, and that is where we started investigating
03:31Biancham, and then it was followed by our investigation on the subsidiary
03:36companies. As we investigate on Biancham, Mr. Chair, we found out the sudden
03:42increase of his assets in 2018, coming from 125,000 before 2016. In 2018, the
03:54current assets of Biancham rose to 125 million. At the height of the
04:01interpolation, Mr. Chair, Attorney Harry Roque articulated that his money did not
04:08come from POGO operation. To emphasize, Mr. Chair, that statement did not come
04:15from QUADCOMM, did not come from this representation. Instead, it came from the
04:21mouth of Attorney Harry Roque. This is an admission, therefore, Mr. Chair, that he
04:27admits the connection of these documents, which we are requiring from him, from the
04:34investigation on POGO operation that we are conducting right now. To further
04:41explain, Mr. Chair, it was admitted that he was the presidential spokesperson
04:47during that time, with a very limited income, and then we asked him, where did
04:53this 65 million come from? Where did this money come from? And he could not
04:58explain, except that he sold a certain property in multinational company in
05:03Paranaque. To conclude, Mr. Chair, there is a question about the source of the
05:10money of Biancham Corporation, which belongs to Attorney Harry Roque, and
05:14following his question, if he will not be able to prove the legal and valid
05:20source of this sudden increase of assets of Biancham, then there is a reasonable
05:25ground to believe that, indeed, he is connected with POGO operation and this
05:31money possibly came from the POGO operation. The second element, Mr. Chair,
05:37is the materiality to the possible legislation. And during the last hearing,
05:43Mr. Chair, we reiterated, what are the laws that can be amended in connection to this
05:53Quadcom hearing? And we cited RA 3019. This is the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
06:00Practices Act, in case our government officials are corrupted because of this
06:09POGO operation. We also have Code of Professional Responsibility of
06:14Government Officials that we need to revisit already. These, the provisions of
06:20this law to make sure that the government officials and employees do
06:25not deviate from what is being mandated by the Code of Professional
06:29Responsibility of Government Officials. We also have anti-money laundering.
06:35Is the provision of anti-money laundering insufficient? And there were
06:40transfers of huge amounts of money in spite of the existence of this law. We
06:45also have corporation law. Why are corporations using shields in
06:51perpetrating illegal activities? We can also consider, Mr. Chair, the Code of
06:57Professional Responsibility and Accountability for Lawyers. Is this still
07:02safe if the lawyer is already protecting illegal activities of their
07:06client? In addition to this, Mr. Chair, we have established already the need to
07:12revisit the laws such as the PSA Charter because our law on late
07:21registration was abused. Our immigration law on visa issuance, the PACOR Charter on
07:27licensing of POGO, and the Cybercrime Law or R810-175. Mr. Chair. Yes, Congressman
07:36Flores. Mr. Chair, as extensively discussed by Congressman Luistro, stating the
07:41grounds why we are in the right as far as our requests for him to submit
07:47these documents and his continued refusal to submit these documents to
07:51this squad committee, Mr. Chair. I move, Mr. Chair, that we hold Harry Roque in
07:56contempt, Attorney Harry Roque in contempt, for refusing to submit the
08:00document subject of the subpoena de susticum and of which he has manifested
08:06that he was going to submit to this committee, Mr. Chair. I so move, Mr. Chair.
08:10There is a motion to cite Attorney Harry Roque in contempt and this was duly
08:17seconded. Are there any objections? Hearing none, the motion is carried. Now
08:23just for clarification, we are citing Attorney Harry Roque in violation of
08:29Section 11. D. Paragraph D. Paragraph D, Mr. Chair, for refusing to comply with the
08:35subpoena de susticum and to submit the documents we requested of him, Mr. Chair.
08:40Now, Mr. Chair, in addition, Mr. Chair, I move that we hold Harry Roque in
08:47detention for the period of until he submits the documents or until the quad
08:54committee is dissolved, Mr. Chair. There is a motion to detain Attorney Harry
09:02Roque as long as this committee conducts its hearing and until we
09:09terminate or until he submits or until he submits the documents required of him.
09:14Yes, Mr. Chair. And this was duly seconded. Are there any objections? Hearing none,
09:20the motion is approved.
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