Harry Roque released from House detention cell

MANILA, Philippines – Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque walked free on Friday night, August 23, after spending one day in the detention cell of the House of Representatives.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed with Rappler that Roque had been released, quoting House Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas.

Roque was detained on Thursday evening as punishment for the contempt citation slapped by lawmakers against him.

Members of the so-called quad committee investigating the proliferation of offshore gambling in the country sanctioned Roque for lying about his unavailability on August 16, the committee’s first day of inquiry.

Roque wrote to the committee on August 13, asking that he be excused during the August 16 congressional hearing, citing a court commitment in Manila on the same day.

Kabayan Representative Ron Salo — Roque’s godson-turned-political nemesis — bared during Thursday’s hearing that Roque had no scheduled court appearance on August 16, a Friday, based on a certification he obtained from the Regional Trial Court of Manila.

Roque explained that it was an “honest mistake,” saying that he thought that the hearing would fall on a Thursday.

“I assumed that just like the first and the second hearing where I attended, that it would be on a Thursday,” Roque had said. “By the time I realized it was a Friday and there was in fact a hearing, it was already close to lunch time, and the hearing was in Pampanga.”

Political harassment?

Prior to his release, Roque’s Facebook page posted a statement decrying his detention.

“There are only two reasons for my detention. First is to silence me as a critic of the administration and as a loyal ally of the Dutertes, and second is to prevent me from doing my job as lawyer of former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court,” read his statement posted on Friday morning.

“It’s clear as day: this is a demolition job,” he added.

House leaders, however, stood firm on their decision to cite Roque in contempt.

“We are not being overzealous, this is not overkill. Because if you try to look at the records of those who are detained, there were bases for their detention,” said House dangerous drugs committee chair Ace Barbers.

“We don’t issue contempt orders on a whim, and we are being consistent,” House public order and safety committee chairperson Dan Fernandez added.

Barbers warned Roque of stiffer penalties — including longer detention — should he lie to the committee again.

The House quad committee — composed of four individual panels convening together — has been probing the links between Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), the illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings, but congressional leaders insisted the probe was not meant to target former president Duterte.

Roque has appeared before the committee numerous times already to defend himself from allegations that he lawyered for a raided POGO firm in Pampanga. – Rappler.com