Court OKs cancellation of Ong, Roque passports
A Pasig court has approved the cancellation of the Philippine passports of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Cassandra Li Ong and their three other coaccused in the qualified trafficking case linked to the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga.
In an omnibus resolution issued on Nov. 19 and made public on Monday, Branch 157 of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted the prosecution’s motion to cancel the passports of Roque, Ong, former government official Dennis Cunanan, Ronelyn Baterna and Mercides Macabasa.
The court also issued a hold departure order against Ong, Baterna, Cunanan, Macabasa and 23 others implicated in the trafficking case that stemmed from alleged illegal activities linked to Lucky South 99 Corp. The Pogo hub was raided and shuttered in 2024 following allegations of torture, human trafficking and online scamming.
With the cancellation of their passports, the movements of the five respondents will become limited, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official said.
“If they are in an Asean member-state, the DOJ can easily communicate with said state through the Bureau of Immigration that their passports have been canceled,” DOJ spokesperson Raphael Niccolo Martinez said in a statement.
“With no valid passport, they can also now be subjected to deportation proceedings by the host state where they may be located,” he added.
Ong whereabouts unknown
Roque, who is in the Netherlands where he has sought asylum, was listed as the legal officer of Lucky South 99 in its application for the renewal of its operating license. Authorities have yet to determine the whereabouts of Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Inc., which leased land to the Pogo hub.
In her 12-page resolution, Presiding Judge Ana Teresa Cornejo-Tomacruz noted that Roque was “deemed to have fled when he knowingly chose to remain [in] another country despite the charge filed against him,” and is thus considered a fugitive.
While Roque had argued that he could not be deemed to have fled when he left the country in the last quarter of 2024, or before the information against him was filed in court, the Pasig RTC said “he may very well be considered to have ‘fled’ after knowing that the information was filed against him and he continued to place himself beyond the court’s jurisdiction.”
“The Netherlands and any place other than the Philippines is not the usual place of abode of the accused Roque. He has not given any acceptable reason why he remains outside of the Philippines, thereby manifesting an intent to evade the long arm of the law,” it added.
A Pampanga court ordered Roque’s arrest in May after state prosecutors charged him and over 40 others with qualified human trafficking and multiple counts of human trafficking.
According to Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, the cases were transferred to the Pasig court upon the order of the Supreme Court.
The DOJ previously explained Roque’s implication in the case, saying that the prosecution’s theory in the Porac Pogo case is similar to that in the Bamban, Tarlac case, which invoked Section 4(l) of the expanded Qualified Trafficking in Persons Act, involving the organizing and managing of human trafficking operations.
This is the same provision that the prosecution invoked in the case of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment last week.
Roque’s argument
In a video statement posted on his Facebook page on Monday, Roque insisted that his case was different from Guo’s.
“She had ownership in the company that owns the Pogo and it appeared that she was involved in its operation,” he said.
He added that he intends to file a motion for reconsideration as the court decision approving his passport’s cancellation was not yet final.
“The right to seek asylum is a human right recognized in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Roque said.
