BATASAN HILLS, Quezon City — In the ongoing investigations into so-called extrajudicial killings (EJKs), illegal drugs and alleged criminal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), the House of Representatives Quad Committee has approved the motion to have Katherine Cassandra Ong, the Singaporean president of POGO hub operator Lucky South 99, detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.

Ong was cited in contempt a second time by the Quad Comm after she continued to balk at answering queries by members of the committee, particularly that of Abang Lingkod party-list representative Joseph Stephen Paduano who questioned her on where she finished her alternative learning system schooling.

With no objection, the committee chair Surigao del Norte solon Robert Ace Barbers approved the motion to cite her in contempt once again.

Antipolo congressman Romeo Acop then moved that if there was no more room at the House of Representatives Ong be detained at the CIW. The motion was also met with no objection and was carried to have Ong transferred to the CIW after September 26.

As this developed, the Quad Comm also issued a show cause order to Mylah Roque, the wife of former presidential spokesperson Atty. Herminio ‘Harry’ Roque who has gone missing after he, too, was cited in contempt and ordered detained by four House panels last September 13 on his refusal to submit documents that would supposedly justify his increased wealth.

Congressman Paduano insisted that it was impossible for Ong to forget what school she attended, despite her insistence that she could no longer remember.

Ong was first cited in contempt by the House Quad Committee on August 28 after she repeatedly responded “I refuse to testify” or “I invoke my right to remain silent” on questions asked of her by lawmakers.