Former Duterte administration presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday admitted having shares in the corporation that owns the house in an upscale subdivision in Tuba, Benguet where a Chinese woman and her Cambodian partner with links to a raided POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac were staying.
Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) director general Dennis Cunanan, on the other hand, testified during yesterday’s Senate hearing on illegal POGOs that he was a consultant and not a fixer for three gaming operators.
Answering a question from Senator Risa Hontiveros, Roque said he does not deny being a co-owner of the house through the corporation, although his shares “were just minimal.”
“The house you were referring to in Tuba, Benguet was registered in a corporation (PH2),” he said.
Roque said he lived in the said house after leaving the government in 2019.
“I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it (the house). But the possession of that house is not with me because as of January of 2024, the corporation rented it out,” he said.
The former Cabinet official during the time of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte said the house was rented by one Chinese woman Wang Keping, 35, who signed the contract of lease, and her partner Cambodian Khuon Moeurn, 37.
He said Wang was able to present an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) and 9G working visa, which means she has the right to be in the Philippines.
According to Roque, Wang was also registered with the homeowners association so she can enter the subdivision.
The Senate released from its custody Nancy Gamo, the supposed accountant of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping while Cunanan’s arrest order was lifted after he testified in the hearing.
Gamo said Guo had active participation in establishing POGOs in Bambam.
Guo and her parents and three siblings failed anew to attend the fifth Senate probe, but the Bureau of Immigration said that the suspended mayor is still in the country.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada gave law enforcers two more weeks to arrest Guo.
State lawyers on Monday meanwhile formally filed a petition to oust Guo from her post.
In a 46-page quo warranto petition, the Office of the Solicitor General asked the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 34 to declare Guo ineligible to hold office as mayor.
Under court rules, a quo warranto petition is filed by the government for the usurpation of a public office or position. It is used to resolve a dispute over whether a specific person has the legal right to hold public office.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said Guo “is unlawfully holding the position and illegally exercising the duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.”
“She is not a Filipino citizen. She is a Chinese national. Thus, she is ineligible to run for any elective public office,” Guevarra said.
“She has committed acts which, by provision of law, constitute a ground for the forfeiture of her office. More specifically, she has committed acts of serious dishonesty which, under the local government code, warrant her removal from office.”
The suspended mayor and several others are facing human trafficking complaints before the Department of Justice.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed the complaint against Guo and her co-accused for their alleged involvement in illegal POGOs in her municipality.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Roque attends Senate hearing on POGO controversy
