Ramil Madriaga on Tuesday claimed he did everything the Dutertes asked of him, but Vice President Sara Duterte did nothing to stop former presidential spokesperson and now-fugitive Harry Roque from filing a kidnapping case that landed him in detention in 2023.
“More importantly, I felt betrayed that despite all my efforts to support Sara — to the extent of even committing high-risk acts for her and her family, she did not lift a finger to stop Atty. Roque, who is her known ally and supporter, from filing the unfounded kidnapping case against me,” Madriaga said in his affidavit that he read before the House Committee on Justice during Tuesday’s hearing.
Madriaga expressed deep disappointment in Roque, saying the kidnapping case was an act of revenge, and one he did not deserve, as he claimed he was merely helping Bataan farmers who had been promised land by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
What he eventually learned, he said, was that Roque had allegedly been trying to claim the same land for himself and his partners, who were Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
When Duterte visited him at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology sometime in October 2025 and apologized for failing to help with his case, Madriaga said the gesture did little to ease his sense of betrayal.
“Frankly, I felt bad and disappointed given that Atty. Harry Roque filed the case against me in retaliation after I tried to expose his land-grabbing activities in Mariveles, Bataan, together with his Philippine Offshore Gaming operator partners,” Madriaga’s affidavit read.
“As I previously mentioned, I was merely trying to assist the farmers of the said area who were supposed to be awarded their Certificate of Land Ownership Award by the Department of Agrarian Reform, but fell victim to Atty. Roque’s activities,” it added.
Among the POGO partners was Danny Corral, whom Madriaga claimed served as both the president and CEO of the First Bataan Mariveles Holdings Corp., as well as an incorporator of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. and now-defunct Lucky South 99 Corp. in Pampanga.
Despite Roque’s repeated denial, Madriaga alleged that Roque and his POGO partners sought to convert the farm land into a POGO hub, claiming further that Roque facilitated the transfer of at least 60 land titles to Corral’s firm.
Roque already faces non-bailable qualified human trafficking charges linked to his role as legal counsel for real estate firms Whirlwind Corporation and Lucky South 99.
He has been on the run and is reportedly seeking political asylum while in hiding.
Fifteen farmers have since added to his legal woes, filing a land-grabbing complaint against him over 400 hectares in Mariveles, Bataan, alleging he used falsified documents to deprive them of their Certificate of Land Ownership Award.
The National Bureau of Investigation announced in March 2026 that it had already launched an investigation into the farmers’ complaint.
Madriaga’s testimony — including his account of how the OVP’s confidential funds were transferred and disposed of — stands as one of the newest and most explosive pieces of evidence cited in the impeachment complaints against Duterte, as the justice committee works toward determining whether probable cause exists to transmit the case to the Senate for trial. (PNA)