SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said that based on documentary and testimonial evidence, suspended Mayor Alice Guo can be considered as one of the brains behind the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub raided in Bamban, Tarlac.
In an interview with radio dyPM, Gatchalian said the ongoing investigations on the ills of the POGO industry have unmasked the people behind the Bamban gaming facility.
“As to the Bamban issue, it is now clear who the people behind this are. First of all, we can say that Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping is one of the masterminds here,” Gatchalian said.
He reiterated that the electric billing statement of Zun Yuan Technology Inc., the operator of the POGO hub in Bamban raided last March, was registered under Guo’s name. A vehicle recovered during the raid was registered to Guo.
The POGO hub raided last March was in the same location where Hongsheng Gaming Technology operated a POGO facility that was raided in February 2023.
Baofu Land Development Inc. owns the lot where the POGO facilities were set up, in which Guo has interests.
Gatchalian said they arrived at this conclusion based on the testimony of Nancy Gamo, the Guo family’s accountant, who said in last Monday’s hearing that she helped the suspended mayor in securing incorporation documents for her and her family’s companies.
Gamo admitted knowing Guo in 2012 and has since been hired on a per project basis.
Gatchalian said they have been receiving several information on Guo’s whereabouts but “can’t divulge right now because everyone is looking for her.”
DISOBEDIENCE
Gatchalian said a criminal complaint is set to be filed against Guo for her continued disregard of the summons issued by the Senate.
Gatchalian said he has consulted with Senate secretary Renato Bantug, who said that Guo can be charged with violation of Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code.
“I have talked to the Senate secretary; they will file a formal case. This is [violation of] Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code, disobedience to summons of Congress. She can be jailed for this,” Gatchalian said.
According to www.legalresource.ph, disobedience to summons issued by Congress, its committees, or sub-committees; by the Constitutional Commissions, its committees, sub-committees or divisions; carries a penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from P40,000 to P200,000 or both.
Arresto mayor is a form of imprisonment that can last from one day to six months.
The penalty applies to those who refuse, without legal excuse, to obey such summons, or being present before any such legislative or constitutional body or official.
Guo, her family members, Gamo, and Lucky South 99 representatives and former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center official Dennis Cunanan have been issued warrants of arrest after they were cited in contempt for their absence in past hearings.
Guo and her family members were absent during the hearings on June 26, July 10, and July 29 while Gamo and Cunanan skipped the hearings on June 26 and July 10.
Gamo was arrested July 13 but was released Monday for cooperating during the hearing.
Cunanan’s contempt citation was also lifted after he appeared before the committee hearing last Monday.
Senate President Francis Escudero said disobedience to summons “is an old Revised Penal Code provision that is rarely used.”
“As far as know, that is seldom used or has not been used. I have been in Congress for a long time, and it has not been used. It would be a nice test case, too,” Escudero said in a chance interview at the Senate.
He said the Senate legal division “can look into it” if Gatchalian recommends the filing of the case against Guo but it has to be filed by an individual who has personal knowledge of the case like a committee staff member.
“There has to be a complaint affidavit, an individual who will file the complaint because that has to be sworn. The Senate cannot swear into it. It does not have to be Sen. Win [Gatchalian] who will file the case. It can be anybody who has personal knowledge,” said Escudero, who is a lawyer.
Escudero said no one can blame the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) for not being able to locate and arrest Guo since its job does not include investigating and hunting down wanted persons.
He said under the law, the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation are the lead agencies that should hunt down fugitives, and the OSAA has made proper coordination with these agencies.
While it may be “embarrassing” that the PNP and the NBI have not yet found and arrested Guo or Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Escudero these law enforcement agencies cannot be blamed.
NBI APPEAL
NBI Director Jaime Santiago yesterday appealed to Guo to surface and surrender to the Senate or to the agency.
“If Mayor Alice is listening, every problem can be solved. She can surrender to the Senate, and attend their hearing. Everything can be resolved but she should explain,” Santiago said in a press briefing.
“Remember, no charges have been filed against her (so far). What we have is a Senate warrant because of her non-attendance, contempt. So, if I’m Mayor Alice, I will just coordinate with the Senate to end this controversy once and for all,” he added.
Santiago said Guo can also surrender to him but he added he has not received any feeler or information from Guo’s camp.
Earlier, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada threatened the NBI and the PNP of budget cuts should they fail to arrest Guo within a month.
Estrada pointed out that the NBI and PNP were allocated resources to serve arrest orders, including that for Guo.
Two weeks have passed since the Senate issued the arrest order for Guo and her relatives.
To complete its fact-finding investigation on Guo, personnel of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) went to her purported hometown in Bamban to thoroughly check her voting records.
Several members of the Comelec Law Department and the Election Records and Statistics Department (ERSD) went to the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) in the Tarlac municipality to conduct documentary analysis of the voting records of Guo.
“We will be examining all the fingerprints and signatures present in these four documents.
We will then submit our findings to the panel for them to evaluate,” said Comelec -Voter Identification Division Chief Tita Miranda in an interview.
Included in the documentary analysis are the fingerprints and signatures of Guo in her Application for Voter Registration, Certificate of Voter Registration, Certificate of Candidacy for the 2022 elections, and the Election Day Computerized Voters List (EDCVLs) used in the 2022 national and local polls and the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The Comelec’s documentary analysis was conducted in the municipal hall of Bamban with the imposing POGO hub standing right behind it.
The Comelec is conducting a fact-finding probe to determine whether there was material misrepresentation in Guo’s Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the May 2022 polls.
In a separate press briefing in Mabalacat, Pampanga, Comelec chief George Garcia said they expect the fingerprint and documentary examiners to be able to complete their assessment until today, Wednesday.
The signatures and fingerprints will be compared with those unearthed by the NBI, which said that Guo is a Chinese masquerading as a Filipino.
He added that the Commission en banc expects the recommendation of the fact-finding body to be submitted by Friday.
“It was supposed to be finished last week. But the typhoon caused the delay,” noted Garcia.
He said that upon the submission of the fact-finding body’s report, the Comelec en banc shall determine if criminal charges should be filed against Guo.
In the event the Commission orders charges to be filed, the poll chief said the Law Department shall be tasked to conduct a preliminary investigation on the case.
Garcia explained that once probable cause is established, it will again be up to the Comelec en banc to decide whether an election offense case should be filed against Guo or not.
“I can tell our people, before the end of August, the Commission will already complete this issue (on Mayor Guo),” said Garcia. — With Ashzel Hachero and Gerard Naval
