Senators to Guo: Come out, face Senate probe

MANILA, Philippines — As an elected official, suspended Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac should present herself to the Senate and help in the probe of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), senators said on Sunday.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said Guo, who has a warrant of arrest, should attend the public hearing of the Senate committee on women, children and family affairs on the alleged human trafficking in Clark.

Senate President Francis Escudero ordered the arrest of Guo on the recommendation of the committee, after she failed to appear in several public hearings.

“She should attend. She is the mayor, the Senate is calling her, and she is the mayor, I saw her legal team and they are very competent.  Her lawyer can just advise her on her answer. She can also say that the information asked of her could be used against her in criminal proceedings, just invoke her right to self-incrimination on a per-question basis. The lawyer already knows that,” Pimentel said in an interview over dzBB.

Like Pimentel, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian also advised Guo to attend the Senate hearing on the alleged human trafficking in Clark, where illegal POGOs were also exposed.

Gatchalian said Guo should surrender voluntarily after the Senate issued an arrest warrant against her.

“She should just surrender voluntarily. I’m sure she knows that she has an arrest warrant. She must respect the law,” Gatchalian said in his message to reporters.

Apart from Guo, the arrest order covers Siemen Guo, Wesley Guo, Sheila Guo, the mayor’s alleged mother Wen Yi Lin and Dennis Cunanan because they appeared in the Senate investigation related to the illegal POGO in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac in Pampanga.

Guo’s account officer Nancy Gamo was arrested last Saturday and is now in the custody of the Office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

OSAA members did not find the suspended mayor when they went to her house in Bamban to serve an arrest order on Saturday.