Remulla: Alice Guo should be under BI custody

MANILA, Philippines —  With the ongoing debate over custody of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla suggested that she should be detained in an immigration facility since her case is an immigration matter.

Remulla said Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, violated immigration laws by obtaining a Philippine passport through fraudulent means and “her being an alien trying to pass herself as a Filipino.”

This violation, he said, poses a threat to national security and like all immigration cases, should “take precedence over everything.”

“Let’s not allow them to muddle the issue. It’s clear that we’re handling an immigration case. The immigration case takes primacy over all that concerns Alice Guo,” Remulla said yesterday at a press briefing.

The justice chief also said there is a possible deportation case against Guo.

Remulla, however, recognizes that there is still the criminal aspect to Guo’s case, particularly the issue of her Philippine passport.

He said some people within the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) were “in cahoots with a syndicate that issued Guo’s passport.”

Remulla pointed out Guo’s case has national security implications, particularly for foreign nationals obtaining Filipino identity documents.

He claims there could be an “espionage angle” in the case but this has to be looked into in a full-blown investigation.

Meanwhile, Remulla said the Office of the Ombudsman should have filed the graft cases against Guo before the Sandiganbayan, not before a Tarlac trial court.

In a Sept. 10 letter to Ombudsman Samuel Martires, Remulla said the graft cases against Guo, which is in connection with her alleged involvement with a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in her municipality, fall within the jurisdiction of the anti-graft court.

At a press briefing yesterday, Remulla said he felt discomfort with the filing of the graft cases in Tarlac, saying it was commonsensical to think that Guo had influence there, being a mayor in a town in the province.

He said the DOJ also intends to write a letter to the Office of the Court Administrator, which is under the Supreme Court, “so that all of this confusion would be done away with.”

P1 billion bribe offer

Guo allegedly offered a bribe worth P1 billion for help with her legal troubles, according to former senator Panfilo Lacson.

In a Radyo 630 interview yesterday, Lacson cited information from a Filipino-Chinese friend – with contacts to the First Family – who was allegedly approached by Guo for help.

Lacson said Guo was willing to pay P1 billion to fix her legal woes with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

The Filipino-Chinese businessman did not help Guo with her request, Lacson clarified.

The former senator urged the intelligence community to look into Guo and her potential to be a national security risk because of her alleged use of her position as mayor to help a syndicate behind an illegal offshore casino.

“If she were a foreign spy, that is bad for us because as a member of Congress, she would have access to highly classified documents due to her high security clearance,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Senate ways and means committee will conduct a public hearing today on President Marcos’ order to ban POGOs.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian will preside over the hearing.

The hearing will also tackle the proposed Anti-Online Gambling Act filed by Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano and Joel Villanueva, a bill taxing POGOs by Gatchalian and a proposed Anti-POGO Act by Villanueva. –  Marc Jayson Cayabyab