Security measures in place for Guo appearance at Senate

MANILA, Philippines — Security measures are in place to ensure the safety of dismissed mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac when she appears before senators tomorrow.

She will be questioned regarding her alleged links to criminal activities uncovered at raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs, particularly the one in her municipality of Bamban.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos has assured Guo of the “best protection” by the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil.

“We will give you the best protection for your life,” Abalos said at a news forum at the Dapo Restaurant and Bar in Quezon City.

Guo is detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame after she opted not to post bail for the cases she is facing before a court in Capas, Tarlac for violating two provisions of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Guo is under heavy police security, as she claimed to be receiving death threats that had prompted her to leave the country.

Abalos said he hopes Guo would return the favor by answering truthfully the questions from senators on what she knows about the criminal activities happening at POGO hubs, particularly those raided in Tarlac and Pampanga.

The DILG chief said Guo has not yet identified the people allegedly plotting to kill her.

Guo also did not allow Marbil, who was present during the meeting, to record their conservation as her lawyers were not present.

“There’s this sense of fear so I told her not to be afraid and just tell us everything she knows,” he said.

Judge Judge Sarah Vedana-delos Santos of the Capas Regional Trial Court Branch 109 granted the request of Sen. Risa Hontiveros for Guo to attend the hearing.

Col. Jean Fajardo, the PNP’s chief publicist, promised to follow the court’s order to take Guo to the Senate under heavy security.

Fajardo said they are also looking into the alleged threats on Guo, stressing her safety is their main concern.

“We will conduct an investigation, threat assessment to prove her and determine where it’s coming from,” she said over dzBB.

Fajardo maintained that Guo is not receiving special treatment from the PNP, saying the former mayor is staying in a detention cell similar to other high-risk inmates in their facility.

Guo is staying in the detention cell previously occupied by former senator Leila de Lima.

Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero said that even if there was a standing Senate arrest warrant on Guo, the chamber had to defer to the Tarlac court which issued its own arrest warrant just as she was being brought back to Manila from Indonesia where she was arrested.

“This is not a race. Guo remains a resource person at the Senate, who was just cited in contempt. But the court warrant for graft is more superior than the Senate’s for contempt,” Escudero said in a dwIZ interview yesterday.

“We shouldn’t compete with the court over custody. We shouldn’t fight over Guo,” Escudero said.

Legal strategy

For Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Guo’s skipping bail and opting to stay in PNP custody was her way of evading the Senate.

“She should feel more secure in the Senate because we have our own security. But this is part of her legal strategy. Whether or not she posts bail, she will end up detained anyway,” Gatchalian told dwIZ.

Gatchalian said he does not believe Guo’s claim that she was receiving death threats and that she felt safer in police custody.

He said it was clear that Guo had intended to escape her multiple cases of graft, money laundering and human trafficking by fleeing to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, where she was caught by Interpol which served the Senate warrant against her.

“She has a track record of lying,” Gatchalian said of Guo’s numerous lies, including faking a Filipino identity so she could run for mayor in Tarlac.

“I do not believe she is having death threats. I do not believe her version of the story,” he added.

As to Guo’s cohort Cassandra Ong, being investigated at the House of Representatives for being a “dummy” investor in the raided POGO hub Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga, Gatchalian said she has no choice but to participate in the Senate inquiries.

Ong’s lawyer yesterday said she would rather be jailed than be in House detention and publicly shamed in the separate House inquiry into illegal POGOs.

Ong skipped the previous Senate hearing, saying she was unwell after suffering low blood pressure. Her camp said she was also suffering from mental breakdown.

“She can be physically brought to the Senate if she has no valid reason not to attend. She has no option but to follow the order of Congress,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian also lashed out at officials who posed for selfies with Guo in Jakarta. “The arrest of a fugitive is not the right time for selfies. We have to understand that authorities worked hard to get her, and that her escape was a slap in the face of our own enforcement agencies,” Gatchalian said.

“Let this be a lesson for all of us. It is normal to be taking pictures, especially with our work in government, that sometimes we forget to consider that an innocent thing can leave a bad taste in the mouth,” he pointed out.

He said he was also surprised by Guo’s behavior and antics when she was being turned over to officials, including Abalos and Marbil, as well as agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

“She should be miserable. I don’t understand why she is projecting that way. But let us see if she can still put on a wide smile when senators grill her with questions next week,” Gatchalian said. “A picture paints a thousand words. This is a lesson to limit chummy photos in a serious situation,” he added. — Emmanuel Tupas