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Mark Ernest Villeza - The Philippine Star
April 29, 2025 | 12:00am
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
Presidential Photo / Yancy Lim
MANILA, Philippines — Qualified human trafficking charges have been filed against former presidential spokesman Harry Roque and 49 others.
Roque and the other suspects allegedly conspired to facilitate human trafficking activities related to the operations of Whirlwind Corp. and Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc., according to the charges filed yesterday by the Department of Justice before an Angeles City Regional Trial Court.
Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind were involved in illegal scam operations in Porac, Pampanga.
Forced to work as customer service representatives for illegal online gambling operations, trafficked employees were reportedly subjected to physical abuse, threats and had their travel documents confiscated.
Roque, who is seeking asylum in the Netherlands, reportedly served as legal counsel for the companies and provided “indispensable cooperation” by assisting in the renewal of business permits despite being aware of illegal activities.
Cassandra Li Ong, Duanren Wu, Ronelyn Baterna, Dennis Cunanan, Han Gao, Norman Macapagal, Stephanie Mascareñas, Michael Bryce Mascareñas, Giorgia Louise Salvador, Mark Anthony Salvador and Mercides Macabasa were among the respondents.
Lucky South 99 is linked to detained former Bamban mayor Alice Guo, who is a suspected Chinese spy.
The cases were filed following complaints from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
In a Facebook post, Roque said: “When it rains, it pours. The Marcos administration is hell-bent on manufacturing cases against me...”
“As an outspoken Duterte ally, I have been subject to political persecution from the kangaroo court called quad committee investigation, to the Bureau of Internal Revenue hounding me, to incitement to sedition charges because of the release of the ‘polvoron’ video and now qualified human trafficking,” Roque added.
Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said he was instructed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to inform the Dutch government about Roque’s trafficking case.
“This has nothing to do with politics, this is really about the crime of human trafficking,” Ty maintained. — Bella Cariaso, Evelyn Macairan
