Guo cries political harassment

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac is asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to junk the human trafficking complaint lodged against her, saying it was a “politically motivated smear campaign” aimed to tarnish her reputation.

The former mayor likewise claimed that the basis for her implication in human trafficking were “mere electric bills and documents” of Baofu Land Development Inc., which leased its property to an offshore gaming hub.

Guo asked the DOJ investigating panel yesterday to reopen the case and admit her attached sworn statement.

In a counter-affidavit submitted through her lawyers to the DOJ, Guo said an electric bill is simply a record of electricity usage and “does not state with certainty who is actually present at the property or if there are illegal activities taking place.”

“I have yet to see a case where a mere electric bill could be validly used to support a claim that a person is involved in human trafficking,” the counter-affidavit read.

The electricity bills of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) that authorities raided for alleged human trafficking were allegedly under Guo’s name.

She also argued that being a former stockholder of Baofu, a real estate firm that leased its land to the POGO raided in Bamban, does not translate to culpability in the corporation’s actions.

Zun Yuan Technology, the POGO entity raided in March, is located inside the Baofu compound behind the Bamban Municipal Hall.

She said she was not in a position to influence the operations of Baofu, including alleged illegal activities that might have been conducted by the company.

“My lawyers informed me that merely being an incorporator does not in itself imply malice,” Guo said.

She also said that her alleged participation in being mayor of Bamban did not amount to human trafficking, saying she only performed one of her duties and functions of issuing licenses and business permits.

She said Zun Yuan applied for a business permit with complete requirements, therefore she had no grounds to deny their application.

“To say that I issued the business permit in favor of Zun Yuan to aid them in committing the alleged human trafficking inside the POGO compound is simply too far-fetched and baseless just to implicate me in committing the crime,” she said.

The DOJ had already submitted the case for resolution after conducting three preliminary hearings, none of which were personally attended by Guo.

She also failed to file her counter-affidavit in time and was no longer given an extension by the panel of prosecutors.

In her motion to reopen and admit her counter-affidavit, Guo explained that the delay was because she needed more time to verify the accuracy of voluminous records while dealing with security, medical and mental health concerns.

The human trafficking complaint was filed by the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission in connection to the raided POGO hub in Guo’s municipality, where over 800 foreign nationals were rescued.