Former Philippine presidential spokesperson faces human trafficking charges

Charges have been filed against Harry Roque and two others.

The Philippines.- The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) have filed human trafficking charges against former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and two others. They’re accused of alleged links to Lucky South 99, an offshore gaming operation, which was raided in Porac, Pampanga.

In a supplementary complaint submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday (October 28), the PAOCC added Roque, Mercides Macabasa and Ley Tan to existing complaints filed against Cassandra Li Ong and 53 others last month for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9208 as amended by RA 10364 and RA 11862.

According to the Philippine News Agency, inter-agency council against trafficking (IACAT) prosecutor Darwin Cañete said a statement from an assistant vice president of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) mentioned a meeting between Roque and Cassandra Ong and intervention related to its licence application.

Tan was the leader of the company’s accounting department, while Macabasa acted as its security compliance officer. Roque has refuted suggestions that he advocated for Lucky South 99.

35 deported to Indonesia

Meanwhile, The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has reported that 35 Indonesians arrested during a raid on an illegal offshore gaming operator at a resort in Lapu-Lapu City last Wednesday (October 23) were blacklisted and deported to Indonesia over the weekend.

Immigration commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said those deported were among over 100 foreign nationals arrested in the raid, which was coordinated by the BI along with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT). 

Charges have been filed against Harry Roque and two others. The Philippines.- The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) have filed…