Sen. Risa Hontiveros shares the organizational chart of illegal POGO Lucky South 99, which listed Harry Roque as a "Legal" officer. Office of Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

MANILA — A Senate panel on Wednesday announced that it would summon former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque to explain his alleged links to Lucky South 99, the illegal POGO raided in Porac, Pampanga last month. 

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Lucky South 99's organizational chart obtained by the Senate Committee on Women and Children, which is spearheading the POGO probe, listed Roque as "Legal."

"Sa susunod po na hearing invited na po sina Atty. Harry Roque at dating Pagcor (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) chairperson Andrea Domingo," said Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the panel.

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During the Senate hearing, Pagcor chief Alejandro Tengco said that Roque reached out to him in July 2023 to set a meeting, which happened on July 26.

At the meeting, Tengco said, Roque assisted a certain Cassandra Lee Ong, whose company was allegedly scammed by an associate. 

"May problema si Cassandra Ong at ito ay tungkol sa kaniyang pagbabayad ng billing ng kompanyang kinakatawan niya sa Pagcor," Tengco said. 

Tengco clarified that Roque was not pressuring him but was only helping Ong to settle her company's dues to Pagcor.

In September of that year, Pagcor received Lucky South 99's application for an Internet Gaming License. The same application included the organizational chart that listed "Katherine Cassandra L. Ong" as "Consultant/Authorized Representative" and Roque as "Legal."

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Lucky South 99 Outsourcing, located in Barangay Santa Cruz, was eventually raided by authorities last month.

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Authorities apprehended the occupants of the compound and two identified incorporators of Whirlwind Corp. — the firm leasing the Barangay Santa Cruz property to Lucky South 99.

ROQUE DEFENSE 

Roque said he had "never been a legal counsel to any illegal POGO."

"As clearly stated by PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco in today’s Senate hearing, I requested a rescheduling of arrears payment of a lessee and principal of my client Whirlwind Corporation. My client is a service provider to Lucky South, then a holder of a valid license from PAGCOR," he said in a statement. 

He added that he did not serve as lawyer for Lucky South 99 and had no hand in preparing its organizational chart. 

"If her (Hontiveros’) only basis is the organizational chart naming me as legal counsel of Lucky South 99, then I challenge her to prove that I had a direct hand in preparing the said document. No such evidence exists," Roque said.

Roque said he and Ong met with PAGCOR officials on July 26, 2023 “because I thought Lucky South--- Whirlwind’s principal---was a victim of estafa.”

“By way of accommodation, I joined Ms. Ong since I was then persuading Whirlwind to invest in two energy projects of which I was the primary proponent,” he said. 

He denied that Ong was Lucky South’s representative during this meeting. 

“Both Chairman Tengco and Atty. Jezza Fernandez admitted that Dennis Cunanan was still the POGO’s official liaison to PAGCOR when Ms. Ong and I met with them. That is a matter of record,” Roque said. 

He said Ong later served as Whirlwind’s Corporate Secretary in September 2023. 

Whirlwind recently retained Roque’s firm “to quash a search warrant in a residential dwelling in Porac mistakenly described as a ‘resort’ by police authorities,” he said. 

“I have no reason to deny my legal engagement with Lucky South if there is truth to it. Providing legal representation is why the legal profession exists.,” Roque said.   

"But the reality is that an attorney-client relationship is of the highest fiduciary relationship and cannot be presumed unless there is a clear retainer between counsel and client," he said. 

Roque said he could not directly engage with the POGO "because of a potential conflict of interest and given the soured lease contract between Whirlwind and Lucky South.”   

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