Harry Roque likely left PH using same route as Alice Guo – BI

Screengrab video from Harry Roque Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque likely left the Philippines undetected using the same route as Alice Guo, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

During the Senate subcommittee on justice and human rights hearing on Tuesday, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado disclosed this information.

“Since Atty. Roque has no recorded departure in the BI’s records, he most likely took the same route as Alice Guo in leaving the country by using a backdoor exit in Tawi-Tawi,” he said.

READ: ‘Where, for God’s sake, is Harry Roque?’: Hontiveros grills BI

Ending his brief presentation, Viado said any powerful individual backed by Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) or have access to funding and resources such as the Pogos can easily sneak out of our borders and enter other neighboring countries.

”The Pogos have numerous unofficial ports of exit to choose from in order to whisk away or hide their bosses or their criminal accomplices,” he explained.

Viado said it is difficult for BI to exactly pinpoint the “exact sea or airport that the Pogos used to allow Alice or Roque to escape from.”

He, however, said they will keep on trying “how the Pogos were able to hide these undesirable aliens.”

Alice and her siblings Shiela and Wesley were believed to have used the Tawi-Tawi backdoor to escape Philippine jurisdiction undetected.

This was the revelation made by National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director Ferlu Silvio during the committee’s hearing last March 4.

According to Silvio, NICA was also able to monitor Roque’s travel from Zamboanga to Tawi-Tawi on September 2, 2024. He said after Roque landed in Tawi-Tawi, no other information came out.

Roque is in the Netherlands at present where he is acting as a member of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s legal team for the latter’s crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court.

READ: Roque to seek political asylum in the Netherlands

The former presidential spokesperson is implicated in the qualified human trafficking case against Cassandra Li Ong and several others concerning the alleged illegal activities of the Pogo hub Lucky South 99 Corp.

He has an outstanding arrest order from the House of Representatives after being cited for contempt and ordered detained due to his failure to submit documents that would justify the alleged sudden increase in his wealth.

The BI earlier said he likely left the country through illegal means.