Harry Roque is now on immigration lookout

DOJ will be requesting a precautionary Hold Departure Order

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government has put former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on immigration lookout over his links to the raided POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operator), the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed on Tuesday, August 6.

The DOJ forwarded the memorandum to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Tuesday, putting Roque and 11 others on lookout. An Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) does not have the power to prohibit the subjects from traveling abroad; it merely places them on high alert with stricter mechanisms to monitor where they are going.

The topmost subject of the ILBO, Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, has reportedly already left the country and is in Singapore, the BI earlier said.

The DOJ will request a precautionary hold departure order (PHDO) against Roque, Ong and the others, the memorandum from Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said. If granted by a court, the PHDO is the one that will bar overseas travel. The PHDO is a fairly new instrument that allows prosecutors to ask for an HDO without a charge filed in court. The standard HDOs are only issued by judges when the charge has already been filed in court, which has not happened for Roque, or even suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.

“Considering the gravity of the possible charges, as well as the wide media coverage and public attention this has gained over the past months, there is a strong possibility that the abovementioned nationals may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of the legal processes of this Department by leaving the country,” said Remulla’s memorandum.

The challenge in the government’s POGO crackdown are foreign suspects fleeing the country because there are no HDOs. There have been suggestions to treat it as an immigration matter so BI can apprehend people and hold them in custody, for example Guo as an alleged Chinese with no status to stay here, but any such action will be exposed to legal contention.

An ILBO is so far the strongest action against Roque, a Filipino, after the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) officially included him in its continuing POGO investigation.

Roque is a lawyer for Whirlwind Corporation, a real estate firm that leased its land to the Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga. Congressional investigations have discovered that Roque assisted Ong so Lucky South 99 could process its license with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). This, according to lawmakers, meant that Roque effectively lawyered for the Lucky South 99 POGO.

A Chinese fugitive, wanted in China over fraudulent internet P2P business, was also caught in his home in Tuba, Benguet, although Roque distances himself from the house because it was leased to a Chinese woman at the time of the apprehension. Roque has cast doubt on this operation because BI had neither an arrest warrant or a search warrant.

The ILBO includes Dennis Cunanan, who acted as consultant for Lucky South 99, and is being accused of pocketing the POGO’s PAGCOR regulatory fee. Cunanan has denied this accusation.

The full list of the ILBO is as follows:

1. Katherine Cassandra Li Ong
2. Harry Roque
3. Xiang Tan
4. Jing Gu
5. Stephanie Mascareñas
6. Michael Bryce Mascareñas
7. Zhang Jie
8. Duanren Wu
9. Raymund Calleon Co
10. Randel Calleon Co
11. Dennis Cunanan
12. Han Gao

-Rappler.com