DOJ vows to hold officials accountable for aiding Guo's escape

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice said they have taken steps – in compliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive – to identify and hold accountable any official found to have helped Alice Guo and her companions leave the Philippines.

“We are taking the president’s directive very seriously. This is of national significance, and we will leave no stone unturned in our investigation,” DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano said on Friday.

Cassandra Li Ong, incorporator of Lucky South 99 and Sheila Leal Guo, sister of the dismissed mayor, were arrested last August 20 by Indonesian immigration authorities at the Mega Mall Batam Centre, in Riau, Indonesia.

National Bureau of Investigation director Jaime Santiago explained that while the charges against Sheila and Ong are bailable, the two will remain under detention by virtue of warrants of arrest issued by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Santiago also said that the reglementary period for Sheila and Ong was put on hold because Friday was a holiday.

He stated that the period will continue on Tuesday at 8 a.m. during which the two will be turned over to the Senate and House.

“Today is a holiday, the reglementary period does not work because there is no office available, so it will only work from the time they were arrested until it starts again on Tuesday,” Santiago said.

Ong’s legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio, however, accused the NBI of not following procedures in the arrest of his client.

“I asked him (Santiago) what the basis for the arrest was. He said the NBI would charge her with a crime, but if it’s just a charge, then that should go through the regular process of filing a complaint affidavit with a preliminary investigation,” Topacio said.

He argued that the NBI should not detain Ong without a case, emphasizing that she should have been turned over to the House of Representatives if there was a House warrant for her arrest.

Topacio said NBI’s action was “motivated by higher orders” and that it was plain “lawlessness.”

“There’s no reason for the NBI to detain her. They can charge her for anything, but without a case, why detain her? These are instructions from above, and it’s plain and simple lawlessness,” Topacio said.

But Santiago explained the bureau’s actions, saying the NBI was acting on a valid warrant.

“When an arrest warrant is issued, whether by the court, Senate or Congress, it is directed to all law enforcement agencies, and we are one of them. Once we apprehend the person sought by the warrant, we process them and return the warrant,” Santiago said. He acknowledged that the NBI was unable to turn over Ong as it was a holiday. — Cecille Suerte Felipe