Cassandra Li Ong, representative of Lucky South 99 POGO, confers with her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio during the House of Representatives quad committee hearing, August 28, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div><span data-teams="true" id="isPasted"><span dir="ltr"></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:900px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172604224754020240828-ong-cassandra-topacio-house-hearing-JC-1.jpg" style="width:900px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Cassandra Li Ong, representative of Lucky South 99 POGO, confers with her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio during the House of Representatives quad committee hearing, August 28, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</span> </span></span></span></div><p>MANILA – The camp of Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga, wants Congress to respect her constitutional rights to remain silent and against self-incrimination during its hearings.</p><p>Her legal counsel, lawyer Ferdinand Topacio filed before the Supreme Court on Wednesday a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order/Injunction and Oral Arguments.</p><p>In the 27-page petition, Ong&#x27;s urged the high court to enjoin the Senate and House of Representatives from &quot;doing any act and thing&quot; that would violate Ong&#x27;s constitutional right to remain silent and her right against self-incrimination. <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/11/cassandra-ong-well-enough-to-attend-quadcom-probe-house-1218"></a></p><p>&quot;Ang amin lang po, in our humble opinion, ay kapag nag-invoke ka ng right to remain silent ay hindi ka na dapat tinatanong at hindi ka na dapat pinipilit magsalita,&quot; Topacio told reporters when asked about the petition.</p><p>(In our humble opinion, when someone is invoked to remain silent, they shouldn&#x27;t be asked to talk and they shouldn&#x27;t be forced to talk.)  </p><p>&quot;Yun lamang po. Kami po ay dadalo out of respect to both chambers of Congress. Kami po ay pupunta roon ngunit i-invoke po namin ‘yung right to remain silent. At nagbigay po kami ng mga rulings, ng mga previous cases, na kahit po sa lehislatura, kahit administrative, kahit civil case, there is a right to remain silent and a right against self-incrimination,&quot; he added.</p><p>(That is all. We will visit out of respect to both chambers of Congress. We will go there but we will invoke our right  to remain silent. We gave rulings of previous cases, that even nder the legislative, administrative, and civil cases, there is a right to remain silent and right against self-incrimination.)</p><p>Topacio said they included as evidence clips from the House Quad Committee hearing on POGOs, where he claimed she was threatened and ridiculed.</p><p>He reiterated that legislative inquiries only required information that would help in creating measures not to investigate someone&#x27;s guilt.</p><p>&quot;Ang hindi na po nakakaya ni Miss Cassandra Li Ong, kapag ini-invoke niya ang kanyang right to remain silent or right against self-incrimination, nakita niyo naman po…. Sinisigawan siya, kinukutya siya, she&#x27;s being ridiculed, ini-intimidate,&quot; he said.</p><p>(What Miss Cassandra Li Ong cannot handle is when she invokes her right to remain silent or right against self-incrimination. You can see that she is being yelled at and discriminated. Intimidated.)</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/11/cassandra-ong-well-enough-to-attend-quadcom-probe-house-1218">Cassandra Ong well enough to attend Quadcom probe: House</a></div><div><iframe width="1100" height="619" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zuWGuzNOHyM" title="&#x27;Masyado kang pa-cute!&#x27; Patience wears thin over Cassandra Ong&#x27;s &#x27;attitude&#x27; at House hearing" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/><br/>Topacio asked the SC to direct the Congress to allow Ong to seek advice of counsel in every step of the proceedings.</div><p>In the same House Quad Committee hearing, Topacio was barred from speaking to his client after she initially refused to answer questions from lawmakers.</p><p>The lawyer believes the lawmakers must respect his client&#x27;s rights, especially since she faces complaints for money laundering and qualified human trafficking.</p><p>Topacio said he has not yet seen these complaints and cannot comment.</p><p>&quot;Once the right to remain silent is invoked ay no further questions should be made. Igalang po yun. Dapat yung mga gumagamit ng kanilang karapatan sa saligang batas ay hindi dapat parusahan (those upholding their Constitutional rights should not be punished),&quot; Topacio said.</p><p>&quot;With more reason na may right against self-incrimination. Sapagkat kung anong sabihin niyo sa isang legislative hearing, gagamitin po yun eh. Iba na yung sitwasyon ngayon,&quot; he added.</p><p>Sen. Risa Hontiveros declined to comment, saying &quot;We have not officially received the petition.&quot;</p><p>&quot;But we stand by the long line of jurisprudence of the Supreme Court upholding the subpoena and contempt powers of the senate,&quot; she said in a statement.</p><p>Manila Sixth District Rep. Benny Abante said Ong &quot;has every right to explore every recourse available to her under the law.&quot;</p><p>&quot;However, she has a choice; she can either choose to assist lawmakers or choose to cover up for lawbreakers. It is unfortunate that she has chosen to hide behind the veil of silence rather than help Congress in its efforts to address the evils brought about by POGOs,&quot; Abante said.</p><p>&quot;Her silence makes her an accomplice, and if Ms. Ong chooses this path, she will be treated as such,&quot; he added. </p><div><strong>ONG&#x27;S ATTENDANCE IN HEARINGS</strong></div><p>Topacio said he hoped senators and lawmakers would heed their plea, citing the deteriorating mental health of Ong.</p><p>&quot;Nagde-deteriorate po yung kanyang mental health. Nakita niyo naman po yung nangyari nung nagbreakdown siya. Huwag po natin mamaliitin ang mental health,&quot; he said.</p><p>Ong was hospitalized last week due to low blood sugar and blood pressure following her appearance at the House Quad Committee hearing.</p><p>Topacio said his client was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday and returned to the custody of the House.</p><p>&quot;Ang sabi naman po ni Hon. Ace Barbers, hindi required yung presence ni Miss Ong pero standby lang siya just in case,&quot; he said.</p><p>The House earlier said Ong was well enough to attend committee hearings.</p><p>She earlier said she would rather go to jail than attend more Congressional hearings on illegal POGO operations.</p><p>Ong has denied being involved in the illegal POGO operations of Lucky South 99.</p><div><br/></div>

<p>The camp of Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga, wants Congress to respect her constitutional rights to remain silent and against self-incrimination during its hearings.</p>

The camp of Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga, wants Congress to respect her constitutional rights to remain silent and against self-incrimination during its hearings.

Cassandra Ong seeks SC intervention in House, Senate probes | ABS-CBN

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Cassandra Ong seeks SC intervention in House, Senate probes

Cassandra Ong seeks SC intervention in House, Senate probes

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 11, 2024 04:15 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 12, 2024 12:54 AM PHT

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Cassandra Li Ong

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