MANILA – Former Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has branded as political harassment the one-day contempt slapped on him by the House of Representatives.
In a statement sent to Panay News on late Thursday, Roque said members of Congress were just getting back at him after he publicly called them out for their shortcomings.
“The truth is, some members of the House of Representatives were hurt, as admitted by Chairman Rep. Dan Fernandez, when I called out the House for its shortcomings,” Roque said.
“My 24-hour detention is unwarranted. Simply, it is an abuse of power. It is political harassment. Panggigipit dahil sa pulitika. Maliwanag na maliwanag,” the former lawmaker added.
Roque was cited in contempt after Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo pointed out that the former spokesman lied about the reason for skipping the House’s quad-committee hearing on August 16.
Salo presented the committee on Thursday with a copy of a certification from the Manila Regional Trial Court that Roque had no hearing on August 16 and did not appear in the courts of Manila on said date.
Roque apologized to the committee saying that it was a “honest mistake” as he thought that the quad-committee hearing is scheduled on August 15, a day where he had a hearing at the Manila RTC.
But despite Roque’s apology, the committee still went on to detaining him in the Batasang Pambansa Complex for 24 hours in consideration of him being a former member of the House and his apology over his actions.
Roque is being investigated over his supposed engagement as a lawyer for Lucky South Star 99 POGO firm, where the belongings of his former staff in Malacañang were seized during a raid by authorities in Porac, Pampanga.
Roque has denied that he has served as counsel of Lucky South 99, saying he only provided counsel concerning securing POGO licenses for Cassandra Lim Ong, who represented Whirlwind firm, not Lucky South 99./PN
