FORMER Presidential spokesman Atty. Harry Roque has been urged to be man enough, face the House quad committee and submit the promised documents.

For his refusal to submit the requested documents including his Statement of Assets Liabilities and Networth (SALN), Roque was cited in contempt and was ordered detention.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Quad comm over-all chairman said Roque had been cited in contempt for the second time for his continued refusal submit copies of his SALNs, documents related to his family firm Biancham, a subsidiary in Benguet called PH2, and a deed of sale of a 1.8 hectare Paranaque property.

Barbers assailed Roque for opting to voice out his response in social media platforms instead of attending the panel hearings and engage in debate with lawmakers who are digging into his alleged links with POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators) and the sudden increase in his assets’ worth.

Roque, during the August 22 Quadcom hearings, promised to comply with the lawmakers’ request of producing vital documents which would prove that he has no legal illegal activities or interests tied to POGOs.

But on same date, Roque was cited in contempt and detained for 24 hours at the Lower House detention facility as punishment for lying to lawmakers on the circumstances about his absence in the Quadcom hearing held on August 16 in Bacolor, Pampanga.

The solon from Mindanao said Roque should be man enough to stand by his promise, that he would comply and submit the documents requested of him by the panel, instead of criticizing and dishing out his frustrations against the panel via the various social media platforms.

“Ang mahirap kay G. Harry Roque, ang dami niyang sinasabi sa labas ng Quadcom. Dito ka (sa Quadcom) magsalita at harapan i-justify yung refusal mo to submit documents. Wag sa social media. Dito tayo mag debate. Also, please be man enough and stand by what you promised to deliver to the panel,” he added.

Barbers said that executive assistant AR dela Serna, the self-confessed “all around alalay” of Roque and had accompanied the latter in several trips abroad, had been man enough to admit before the Quadcom panel that both of them has had a joint bank account in the amount of P3 million.

Aside from the immigration lookout, Roque would be detained until the Quadcom hearings terminate, or until he complies with the subpoena, according to Barbers.

Quadcom panel member Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said that as they investigate, the panel found the sudden increase of Roque’s assets, coming from P125,000 before 2016 and has risen to P125 million in 2018.

“If he (Roque) will not be able to prove the legal and valid source of this sudden increase of assets of his family-owned Biancham, then there is reasonable ground to believe that indeed he is connected with POGO operations, and this money possibly came from POGO operations,” Luistro said.

Roque was implicated in the POGO controversy for accompanying and helping Cassandra Li Ong, an official of Whirlwind and Lucky South 99 gaming firm, to pay off arrears totaling US$500,000. He has admitted, on record, to being lawyer for Whirlwind, the company that is leasing its Porac compound to Lucky South 99.

The former spokesman of President Duterte, in a social media post, labeled the Quadcom as a kangaroo court, just wasting government money on hearings “na wala namang napapatunayan.”