Ex-presidential aide Roque officially charged with human trafficking in Philippines POGO case

In a 15-page petition filed on 28 October, the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) charged Roque with qualified human trafficking in connection to a Philippines Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) in Porac, Pampanga.

Last June, acting on tips about suspicious activity, law enforcement raided the POGO. As in similar raids, they found evidence that the operation was actually a front for love and crypto scams.

Special forces freed about 150 foreign and Filipino workers. Some claimed they had been held against their will and forced to run the online scams. They allegedly faced beatings when they failed to meet daily quotas.

According to the Philippine Star, some rescued workers displayed signs of physical abuse. And police found one worker handcuffed to a bed frame.

Ironically, given the charges, the Star account described Roque as a “former human rights lawyer”.

Six weeks after the raid, amid sensational reports of POGO-related crimes, Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned the industry.

The two faces of Harry Roque

On and off between 2017 and 2021, Roque was the attorney and official spokesman for former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte.

At the same time, he served as legal counsel for the Pampanga POGO, incorporated as Lucky 99 South. He represented Cassandra Li Ong, purported head of the facility, in dealings with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).

PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio says paperwork found at the POGO suggest Roque was a key player. “I don’t believe in coincidence any more as far as Harry Roque is concerned,” Casio said. “His footprint is everywhere.”

In remarks reported by the Philippine Inquirer, prosecutor Darwin Cañete said Roque was aware of illegal activities at the facility. He “benefited from the fruits of the trafficking in persons” said Cañete. And he “intentionally withheld such information” from Philippines authorities.

Roque has not appeared in public for several months, but he is all over Facebook, posting several times a day on a page with 1.5 million followers. Roque claims he’s the victim of “a trumped-up charge”.

“It took PAOCC four months after the raid… to get witnesses to agree in concocting lies for the sake of implicating me,” he said in a recent post. He has also promised to face the human trafficking complaint, but declined to say if he would appear at senate hearings in the matter.

That “polvoron video”

Last month, lawmakers cited Roque for contempt after he refused to submit documents that would explain his increased wealth.

Meanwhile, according to the Philippine Inquirer, former cabinet secretary Melvin Matibag called for Roque’s disbarment after he posted the so-called “polvoron video”.

Roque posted the deep fake video on 22 July, hours before the state-of-the-nation address in which the president issued his POGO ban. It showed a Marcos lookalike snorting a white powdery substance suggesting cocaine or crystal meth. Polvoron is a Filipino shortbread made with flour, sugar and powdered milk.

“It’s been established that [the video] is fake,” Matibag seethed. “Let’s see how the Supreme Court will appreciate this.”

Roque called the complaint a “desperate act of attention”. He also defended the post, saying it’s “protected by free speech”.