MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed on Wednesday, December 3, that former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque had his counter-affidavit for a qualified trafficking case notarized in Abu Dhabi.
“According to the panel, a counter-affidavit was submitted by the lawyers of Harry Roque. It would appear that he had a document which was notarized pero dun siya sa (but he was in) Abu Dhabi,” Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon told the media.
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Roque confirmed this during a Wednesday press conference but said he is no longer in Abu Dhabi, leaving his current whereabouts still unknown.
“I have filed my counter-affidavit, and I swore this before the Philippine Consulate in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,” he said in Filipino. “I came to the UAE just for the purpose of notarizing.”
However, when asked if he is currently in the Philippines, he replied, "I am still outside the country."
Not filed in PH jurisdiction
Despite the counter-affidavit, Fadullon said the panel may or may not accept the document submitted through Roque’s lawyers, as the sworn statement was made outside the panel’s jurisdiction in the Philippines.
“The only way that we can consider that is if he executes the affidavit and has it notarized or apostilled before the embassy of the country where he is at that particular time,” he added.
Fadullon also said that Roque’s counter-affidavit is not “apostilled,” meaning it lacks the official government certification that verifies its authenticity and origin.
“Unfortunately, we have no way of verifying whether these documents are documents that we can consider for purposes of resolving the case dahil sa ito ay hindi apostille (because it is not apostilled),” he said.
The prosecutor general explained that for any document to be considered within Philippine jurisdiction, in case one is abroad, the “very least” they can do is have it apostilled.
Fadullon added that Roque is required to appear before the prosecutor, who is mandated by law to “ensure that the person who executed the counter-affidavit is indeed the one who signed it.” This can even be done via online platforms like Zoom, he said.
Roque says, ‘No’
However, Roque said he won’t appear before the prosecutor.
If the DOJ wishes to verify his appearance during the signing of his counter-affidavit, he said the agency could contact Vice Consul Kevin Mark Gomez, who notarized it, as well as Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver.
He mentioned that Ver was “personally present” when he swore to his counter-affidavit.
“There is nothing in the rules that requires me to appear, as the rules specify that I should take an oath before a government personnel with the power to administer the oath,” Roque said in Filipino.
“Ask the public officers, as the Vice Consul and the Ambassador of the Philippines to the UAE would not lie,” he added.
In his counter-affidavit, the former presidential spokesperson argued that there was no evidence of his involvement in human trafficking and requested the dismissal of the complaint against him.
Roque failed to attend the DOJ’s preliminary hearing on November 18.
How Roque got into this mess
The former presidential spokesperson is facing qualified trafficking charges for his alleged involvement in the operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), specifically the now-defunct Lucky South 99.
During the House Quad Committee’s probe into POGOs, lawmakers discovered that Roque was the legal counsel for Whirlwind Corp., a real estate firm that leased land to Lucky South 99.
He allegedly assisted Whirlwind incorporator Cassandra Ong with the renewal of Lucky South 99's registration.
Authorities have described the Porac-based, Chinese-linked POGO as a “front” for criminal activities, including scams, trafficking, prostitution and illegal drugs.
This followed the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group's filing of a supplemental complaint related to the charges against Ong and 53 others, including kidnapping and torture.
Other than his alleged participation in illegal POGOs, Roque and his wife Mylah are also under fire over the rapid increase of their firm's assets. Binacham Holdings and Trading's assets grew from P125,000 to P67.7 million in just four years, from 2014 to 2018. — with reports from Ian Laqui