The House Quad-Committee cited SP04 Arthur Narsolis and Harry Roque in contempt during the fifth public hearing of the House of Representatives joint committee on Thursday, September 12.
Before the hearing on the Extrajudicial Killings (EJK) during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s term began, the Committee requested a short briefing on the past hearings.
Narsolis’ nonattendance prompted the Committee to cite him in contempt and ask for his appearance in Court. Congressman Dan Fernandez requested that the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms coordinate with the Philippine National Police (PNP) to easily identify the invited personalities who failed to appear in the hearings.
Subsequently, Rep Joseph Stephen Paduano recommended that Narsolis be detained at the House premises until the investigation on the EJKs is terminated.
Meanwhile, the House Committee reiterated the issuance of a subpoena against Harry Roque on the documents submitted during the previous hearing. He later on filed a motion to quash, but the panel denied the motion.
Congresswoman Gerville Luistro refuted Roque’s claim on the hearing not being in aid of legislation. Their investigation focused on the latter’s documents concerning the sudden increase of the Biancham assets to Php125 million.
“We are indeed in (the) exercise of our power to conduct inquiry in aid of legislation which is granted by no less than the Philippine Constitution,” Luistro stressed.
With Roque’s refusal to comply with the subpoena, he was cited in contempt by the Quad-Committee.
Moreover, the panel moved to detain Roque until the Committee is dissolved or he submits the required documents. Congressman Bienvenido Abante said that the former was also cited in contempt on August 22 for being untruthful about the circumstances surrounding his absence during the hearing on August 16.
The panel approved Congressman Jonathan Flores' motion that Roque be detained at the House detention facility, with respect to his previous position as former president Duterte’s presidential spokesperson.
