Harry Roque out of PH? BI says no record of recent travel

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has not monitored any recent travel made by former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who is the subject of an arrest order issued by the House of Representatives. 

“Sa ngayon po, wala po tayong record ng any recent travel po ni Harry Roque,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told Unang Balita on Thursday when asked if Roque is still in the country.

(Right now, we have no record of any recent travel by Harry Roque.)

Roque was cited in contempt and ordered detained by the House of Representatives' QuadComm on September 13 after he refused to submit documents that would supposedly explain his increased wealth.

The QuadComm made the move after Roque initially agreed to submit documents that would explain the increase of his assets under his family’s Biancham Holdings and Trading from P125,000 in 2014, P3.125 million in 2015 and P67.7 million in 2018.

Roque, in response, has accused Congress of “power tripping” following the contempt and arrest orders issued against him due to his alleged link to illegal operations of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO).

Roque maintained that he is not a fugitive.

“Hindi ako pugante dahil ako po ay lumabag sa batas. Pugante ako sa Kongreso lamang, wala po akong pakialam. Dahil ang tingin ko naman kung ay na-cite in contempt of Congress, ang Kongreso naman po ay cited in contempt of the people of the Philippines,” Roque said in a live video posted on Facebook on September 16.

(I am not a fugitive because I violated the law. It’s only Congress that considers me a fugitive, and I don’t care. The way I see it, if Congress cited me in contempt, I think Congress is cited in contempt by the people of the Philippines.)

“Hindi po tama yung ginagawa nila, pasigaw-sigaw, kapag ayaw ng sagot contempt kaagad. Nagpa-power tripping na po sila,” he said during the almost 14-minute-long video.

(What they are doing is wrong, they keep on shouting, and they cite anyone in contempt if they don’t like their response. They are power tripping.) 

On Wednesday, the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) said it is having difficulty locating Roque.

“‘Pag nalaman na namin, usually lumilipad na. So parang naka-counter din kasi kami,” said PNP-CIDG spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Imelda Reyes. 

(By the time we find out where he could be, usually he will have left. So we are being countered.)

But the PNP-CIDG added they have a strong lead on where they might find Roque.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News