Former Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on July 29 admitted that being a co-owner, he has an interest in a house in an upscale subdivision in Tuba, Benguet where a Chinese woman with links to a raided POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac, and her Cambodian partner were staying.
In reply to the query of the Senate President Pro Tempore if he is the owner of the house where the two foreigners were living, Roque replied, “the house you are referring to in Tuba, Benguet was registered to a corporation (PH2).”
Facing the POGO hearing of the Senate committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, Roque said he lived in that house after his stint as presidential spokesperson in 2019.
“And I do have an interest in the corporation that owns (the house). But (I am no longer in) possession of that house because as of January of 2024, the corporation rented it out,” explained Roque.
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 lease, and her partner Cambodian Khuon Moeurn, 37.
He said Wang also presented an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) was a holder of a 9G working visa.
According to Roque, Wang was also registered with the Homeowners Association so she can enter the subdivision.
“So, when they said my house was raided and there were wanted POGO bosses there, I concluded there was a concerted effort to malign me like a previous PAGCOR release that I lobbied for a license of an illegal POGO,” said Roque.
But PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco said, “no such thing (lobbying).”
When Committee chairperson Sen. Risa Hontiveros inquired anew if Roque owns the house at Pinewoods Subdivision raided by agents of the PAOCC and Bureau of Immigration, Roque insisted he does not deny being an owner of the house, although his shares were just minimal but he intends to procure 100 percent ownership .
Roque said, while he is no longer staying in that house, he still considers himself a Baguio resident. But that he stays in another place.
He also strongly denied that the corporation has never applied for a POGO hub.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed a quo warranto petition against Guo, which may result in her removal from public office.
In the 45-page petition, the OSG asked the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 34 to declare Guo’s proclamation as Bamban mayor null and void and for her to be ousted.
The court was also asked to declare Guo as ineligible to hold the office of the mayor of Bamban and to declare her to have committed acts that warrant her forfeiture.
“Guo Hua Ping a.k.a Alice Leal Guo is unlawfully holding the position and illegally exercising the duties and responsibilities of the office of the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac,” Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said when asked about the main grounds of the petition.
Also, the Senate released Nancy Gamo, the supposed accountant of Guo while former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) Director General Dennis Cunanan’s arrest order was lifted after they testified in the Senate POGO hearing.
Gamo stressed that Guo lied in saying that she does not know her.
She said she personally talks to Guo regarding documents for the incorporation of Hongsheng and Zun Yuan.
She said Guo gave her the list and details of the incorporators in the two said POGOs but admitted she did not do due diligence, trusting the mayor.
She also agreed with Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian that Guo had active participation in establishing POGOs in Bambam.
Cunanan testified he was a consultant and not a fixer for three POGOs.
Guo, her parents and three siblings failed anew to attend the fifth Senate probe into the illegal activities of POGOs in the country.
But the Bureau of Immigration, on questioning by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, found out that the suspended mayor is still in the country.
Saying the Senate issued the order last July 12, Estrada gave law enforcers two more weeks to arrest her.
