Senate detention facility ready for Guo, relatives

MANILA, Philippines — A dormitory-type detention facility for suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, her mother and female siblings in the Senate compound is now ready, the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) said yesterday.

OSAA head Roberto Ancan inspected the room which has three bunk beds where Guo and her family would be detained if the Senate sergeant-at-arms succeeds in serving its arrest order on the suspended mayor and her companions.

OSAA will primarily be in charge of their safety, but the Philippine National Police may be tapped for assistance.

Ancan assured the resource persons of their safety, especially of Guo, whose detention facility is beside a PNP detachment. He noted that there will be a medical team ready for their needs as well.

“Here I can assure her security 24/7. I’ve done it before. I was a commander before, and I assured the people within my area of responsibility that they are safe,” said Ancan, a retired Army officer.

Apart from Guo, the Senate has also ordered the arrest of Siemen Guo, Wesley Guo, Sheila Guo, her alleged mother Wen Yi Lin and Dennis Cunanan after they failed to appear before the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

The OSAA chief said the structure was formerly an air-conditioned daycare center, where there is water dispenser and a table.

Ancan noted that only the female relatives of Guo would be allowed to stay with her. He noted that the male resource persons would be detained in a separate room, while Guo’s former accountant, Nancy Gamo, will also stay in a different room.

The detention facility was specifically converted last year from being a daycare center in the event that the Senate needs to detain more people. Guo and her family will be the first to use the facility in case they surface. There are also detention facilities in the Senate basement.

Ancan said the facilities would be comfortable and the Senate will provide detainees with food three times a day, although they can also bring their own food.

Visiting hours would be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Guo and the others would be allowed to go outside of the detention facility for a few minutes in the morning for sunlight.

At present, Senate guidelines for individuals under Senate custody do not allow detainees to use gadgets. However, Senate President Francis Escudero earlier said they would revisit such guidelines.

Escudero visited Nancy Gamo, the alleged accountant of Guo, who has been detained in the Senate since her arrest last Saturday. He was accompanied by a staff of Hontiveros.

While Gamo’s health condition was good, she reportedly complained of boredom as she was not allowed to use cell phones. But she is allowed to request for a cell phone if she needs to make a call.

Escudero said there is a need to review the rules of the Senate that prohibit the use of cell phones by detainees as they are not prisoners.

SC seeks Senate comment

With Guo’s whereabouts still unknown, the Supreme Court (SC) has asked Hontiveros’ panel to comment on the petition of Guo seeking to stop the senators from summoning her as a resource person in the probe on POGOs.

According to SC spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting, the SC gave the committee 10 days from notice to file its comment.

Guo earlier filed before the SC a petition for certiorari, with prayer for annulment of subpoena and temporary restraining order against her being required to appear as a resource person in the Senate.

In her 78-page petition for certiorari, Guo asked the High Court to annul the subpoena issued by the Senate panel.

She argued that the Senate committee committed grave abuse of discretion, amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, when it subjected her to “public persecution and humiliation, disregarding her Constitutional rights.”

The mayor’s right to presumption of innocence and due process were likewise violated as she was already branded, called and concluded to be a “liar,” “spy” and a “POGO operator,” the petition claimed, citing the opening remarks of Hontiveros in one of the hearings.

The petition also pointed out the hearings focused on Guo’s personal life, which are “totally unrelated, unconnected and unassociated with the pending resolutions subject of the public hearing.”

“As a result, she was asked and forced to divulge matters of her private life, childhood, love life and personal businesses to the public under the pain of contempt,” it read.

Guo’s lawyer Stephen David previously said the Senate hearings have left the mayor “traumatized.” — Janvic Mateo, Jose Rodel Clapano