Land grabbing complaint filed vs Harry Roque

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March 25, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A group of farmers from Mariveles, Bataan filed a complaint of land grabbing against former presidential spokesman Harry Roque and several others in connection with the transfer of ownership of parcels of land covered by the agrarian reform law.

Up to 20 farmers went to the office of the National Bureau of Investigation in Pasay on Monday to execute sworn statements and submit documents supporting their allegations, the NBI said.

The complaint involved parcels of land covered by certificates of land ownership award that were allegedly transferred to a private corporation linked to a Philippine offshore gaming operation or POGO.

The transfer of ownership was reportedly made without clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The complainants said the property was supposed to be distributed to more than 100 beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, but was instead transferred to the First Bataan Mariveles Holdings Corp., which they claimed was tied to a POGO firm.

Preliminary investigation indicated possible falsification of documents in the processing and transfer of land titles, raising questions on the validity of the transaction.

NBI spokesman Palmer Mallari said the bureau is gathering evidence including records from the DAR and the Registry of Deeds.

The NBI said it would conduct a thorough case build-up to determine probable cause and identify people who may be held criminally liable.

Documents shown to journalists indicated that the land titles were registered under the company, whose listed address supposedly pointed to Roque’s office.

Authorities presented a photo showing Roque visiting Bataan with an incorporator.

Roque, who is reportedly in Austria, has yet to react to the complaint.

He is facing a separate case of qualified human trafficking linked to the Lucky South 99, a POGO firm.