The government of the Philippines is enlisting help from the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) to facilitate the arrest of fugitive Harry Roque.
Roque was once the official spokesman for former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. As an attorney, he provided legal counsel to Lucky 99 South, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) in Porac, Pampanga. He represented Cassandra Li Ong, purported head of the facility, in her dealings with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR).
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned POGOs in July 2024 following reports that they engaged in online romance and crypto scams, often powered by forced labour. A raid of the Pampang facility freed about 150 foreign and Filipino workers. They said they faced beatings when they failed to meet daily quotas. Some rescued workers displayed signs of physical abuse. Police found one victim handcuffed to a bedframe.
In October 2024, the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission charged Roque with qualified human trafficking at the Pampang POGO. The fugitive, claiming political persecution, is seeking asylum in the Netherlands.
Stiff penalties under expanded anti-trafficking law
If tried and convicted, Roque faces severe penalties. Last week, disgraced “POGO mayor” Alice Guo was convicted of running a POGO in Bamban, Tarlac. Guo was elected mayor of Bamban in 2022 and removed when the POGO allegations surfaced. She then slipped across the border and eluded capture for several months until September 2024, when she was arrested in Jakarta.
Investigators say Guo is not Filipina but a Chinese national who used a phony birth certificate to run for mayor. She reportedly used Chinese money to fund the Bamban POGO.
On Friday, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court found Guo guilty of the same charge lodged against Roque: qualified human trafficking. She was sentenced to life in prison. The court ordered her and seven co-defendants to pay fines of PHP2 million (US$34,000) and compensate several trafficking victims.
It was the country’s first conviction under expanded anti-trafficking laws that allow the government to prosecute people who “organise and direct others” to enslave workers.
“We can implicate people who, even if they were not the ones who physically hurt, recruited or exploited the trafficking victims themselves,” Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty told the Philippine Inquirer.
To limit Roque’s movement, the government has cancelled his passport.
Roque says Philippines out to ‘pulverise’ critics
In remarks to Politiko.com, Roque said he is beyond the reach of the Philippine government.
“An Interpol red notice … does not override a receiving state’s obligations under refugee and asylum law” he said. “The protections that follow from my pending asylum claim remain in force.
“I will continue to assert the protections that international law grants to asylum seekers,” Roque continued. “And I will use every legitimate legal channel to present evidence, seek accountability and defend my professional reputation.”
He said the charges against him “stem from long-running efforts by this administration to silence and to ‘pulverise’ critics”.
Philippines authorities seek arrest of Harry Roque, who was once spokesman for former president Rodrigo Duterte and is accused of crimes related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations.