MANILA, Philippines – A Tarlac court that handles the two graft cases against dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo has allowed the former local official to face a Senate probe on Monday, September 9.
In an order released on Friday, September 6, Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109 Presiding Judge Sarah Vedaña-Delos Santos granted opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros’ request to allow Guo to attend the upcoming Senate probe.
The Tarlac court also ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to bring Guo to the Senate, since the former mayor is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
“Given the critical importance of the ongoing inquiry in aid of legislation, the Court grants the Senator’s request,” the court order explained.
On Friday morning, Guo appeared before the Tarlac court but did not post bail in her two graft cases. She was supposed to post bail of P180,000 — P90,000 for each count of the two counts of graft — to be granted temporary liberty. Guo’s lawyer, Nicola Jamilla, told reporters that she did not post bail because Guo still has the other arrest order, adding that the former mayor felt safe in PNP custody.
By not posting bail, Guo remains under the custody of the police and not of the Senate, because the upper chamber cannot hold Guo’s custody unless she is temporarily freed from police detention.
This complicates things, at least for the Senate’s part, because it needs to seek first the court’s approval before Guo can be transported to Senate for probes. Logistics would be much easier had Guo posted bail because she would be placed under Senate custody.
“You know what, Guo should have been turned over to the Senate after she was processed by the National Bureau of Investigation or PNP. That’s our deal and the right process because it was the Senate that originally issued an arrest warrant against Alice Guo,” Hontiveros said in Filipino on Friday.
Guo arrived in the Philippines early Friday morning after she was deported from Indonesia. Top level officials led by Interior chief Benhur Abalos escorted her back to the country to face her long list of allegations. Originally, she would have been arrested and detained through the Senate arrest order against her, but the buzzer-beater Tarlac warrant changed the government’s game plan.
Instead of being placed under the Senate custody, Guo was transported straight to Camp Crame.
Aside from graft, Guo faces three other criminal investigations at the Department of Justice for qualified human trafficking, tax evasion, and money laundering. These are all related to her incorporation of a leasing company called Baofu, which rented its spaces out to a POGO called HongSheng/Zun Yuan.
Evidence of torture and trafficking had been found at the POGO. – Rappler.com