‘Court order is Guo’s get-out-of-jail card’

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo will need a court order if she still wants to run for office and personally file her certificate of candidacy, according to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

BJMP spokesman J/Supt. Jayrex Bustinera yesterday said Guo, who is detained at the Pasig City female dormitory, needs to secure a court order before she will be allowed to leave the facility to file her COC.

Bustinera said they have previous experience where jailed individuals were allowed to run in previous elections, as long as their cases have not been decided with finality.

Still, the jail official said it would be better if Guo designates an official representative to file her COC, since the Commission on Elections (Comelec) allows it.

Guo’s five co-accused in the qualified trafficking in persons case are in the custody of the BJMP after being committed last Sept. 26. They are Thelma Laranan, Rachelle Carreon, Rita Yturralde, Rowena Evangelista and Jamielyn Cruz.

A Pasig City court yesterday allowed Guo to attend the continuation of the Senate investigation into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and related crimes on Oct. 8.

In an order, Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 Presiding Judge Annielyn Medes-Cabelis granted the request of the Senate committee on women, children and family affairs chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros to allow Guo’s presence in the hearing.

Senate President Francis Escudero vouched for the need to strengthen the laws punishing espionage amid allegations that Guo served as a secret communist spy for China.

Allegations that Guo served as a spy resurfaced after gambling tycoon She Zhiyang said in an Al Jazeera documentary that he worked with Guo Hua Ping for China’s Ministry of State Security, the communist party’s secret police agency.

Guo denied the allegations.

Spying for another country is punishable under the Commonwealth Act of 1941, as well as the Revised Penal Code. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marc Jayson Cayabyab