HARRY ROQUE DETAINED FOR 24 HOURS, CITED FOR CONTEMPT

For 24 hours, Harry Roque will be detained after lying on his schedule about why he failed to attend a hearing (Photo courtesy of Rappler)

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was cited for contempt by the quad committee of the House of Representatives for supposedly lying about why he failed to attend the first hearing in Pampanga last week.

Roque did not attend when the quad committee summoned him to the House proceedings on Friday August 16. Roque explained in the letter he sent to the committee that he had scheduled court hearing at a regional trial court (RTC) in Manila in the morning and afternoon of the congressional inquiry so he would not be there. 

But on yesterday's hearing, the committee discovered in the certification issued from the clerk of court of the RTC of Manila that there was no scheduled court appearance on Friday.

Roque's defense is that it was just an honest mistake because he was confused about the hearing schedule. However, Congressman Ron Salo still held him in contempt and placed him in the detention facility for a whole day. 

“I hate to say this, but clearly, Attorney Harry Roque, a former secretary and my former professor, lied to this committee, and that amounts to disrespect on the members of the committee which is contemptible,” Salo said.

“I’ve also been a member of this chamber. We don’t hold hearings on Friday. When I saw the notice of hearing, I assumed that just like the first and the second hearing where I attended, that it would be on a Thursday. And that is true, that I had a hearing both in the morning and the afternoon,” Roque said.

“By the time I realized it was a Friday and there was in fact a hearing, it was already close to lunch time, and the hearing was in Pampanga. I apologize for the honest mistake,” he added.

As lawmakers look to connect Roque to a raided POGO operation in Porac, Pampanga, he has been a continuous resource during the House's investigation into the country's POGO rise. As a penalty, lawmakers also voted to detained him on House premises for 24 hours.

Source: GMA Integrated News  

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