INTERIOR Secretary Benhur Abalos yesterday said marriages solemnized by dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo remain valid as long as either or both parties believe in “good faith” that she had the legal authority to do so at the time the ceremony was undertaken.
“So kung ikaw ay in good faith, naniwala ka na si Alice Guo ay talagang may otoridad na magkasal, I guess karamihan sa kanila ay ganoon ang tingin, dahil mayor nga naman siya, (If you believe that Alice Guo has the authority to officiate your wedding, I guess many of them think that way because she was a mayor, you could make use of this article,” Abalos told reporters, citing a provision of the Family Code.
However, since the legal issues hounding Guo’s citizenship are pending, Abalos urged the local government of Bamban to compile the list of couples wedded by the former mayor as early as now to prepare for any eventuality.
Last Monday night, Rep. Jonathan Clement Abalos (PL, 4Ps), during the plenary deliberations on the proposed budget of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), asked if the marriages solemnized by Guo were all invalid.
“Kasi nakalagay po sa ating batas na kung walang authority to solemnize ang isang solemnizing officer sa isang kasal, void po ang kasal. So ang ibig sabihin po nito magiging void na rin po ba lahat ng mga Pilipinong ikinasal niya? (The law says a marriage is void if the one who solemnized it had no authority to do so. So does it mean that the marriages of all those she officiated are void?” he asked.
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, the budget sponsor, said: “Sa ngayon (As of now) they are in the process of canceling itong (this) birth certificate ni (of) Alice Guo. As soon as that is approved by the court ay pababalikan po lahat po ng marriages solemnized by Alice Guo (all marriages solemnized by Alice Guo will be reviewed).”
‘MILLIONS IN BRIBES’
A Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) official said he has received intelligence information that a Bureau of Immigration officer and a former PNP chief could have helped Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping, escape from the country last July.
Retired Gen. Raul Villanueva, Pagcor’s senior vice president for security, told the Senate Committee on Women that there are talks in the intelligence community that a BI officer assigned in border control operations was supposedly bribed “millions of pesos” to help Guo and her siblings escape, and the former PNP chief was in the payroll of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
Villanueva said they have received information that Guo allegedly bribed the BI border control officer P200 million but “wala pa pong confirmation ma’am kung may mga witnesses na mayroon talagang nabigyan (but there is no confirmation, ma’am, that there were witnesses who actually saw that there were people who received the bribe money).”
“But ‘yan ang usap-usapan ngayon. They’re still validating it, ma’am (But these are the talks now [in the intel community]. They’re still validating it),” Villanueva added.
Villanueva also said they have to verify the supposed amount of money allegedly given to the BI border control official.
Responding to a question from Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros if there were PNP units involved in the escape, Villanueva replied: “Hindi PNP unit ma’am, but personalities.
“I think it was mentioned the former PNP chief…I don’t know (which one), but former PNP chief daw,” he added.
Villanueva did not identify the former PNP chief.
Pressed on the role of the former PNP chief in the escape, Villanueva said the former PNP chief was “on the take” from Guo, but added the information needed to be validated.
“Ang parang usap-usapan doon, ma’am, parang ‘yung nasa payroll, ‘yung monthly payroll ever since (Talks are that he is on the payroll, on the monthly payroll ever since),” Villanueva said.
Villanueva said he did not receive information on the involvement of any ranking military officer or former and present Cabinet officials in the escape of Guo.
He said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group was also mentioned in the intelligence report but nothing specific has been said of former CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat, now the Area Police Commander of Northern Luzon.
Caramat said he knows the CIDG is being dragged to POGO operations because he ordered the relief of the CIDG operatives involved in the raid on the Bamban POGO facility.
Caramat said he was actually not informed by then PNP chief Benjamin Acorda that the CIDG will assist the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in the Bamban raid since he was vacationing at that time.
He said the relief of the CIDG operatives had nothing to do with their participation in the POGO raid, adding it was part of the scheduled reassignment of his men to different posts.
Police Brig. Gen. Raul Tacaca, the PNP-CIDG deputy director for administration, said the police leadership has not received any intelligence information that a former PNP chief was in the monthly payroll of illegal POGOs.
Lawyer Angelito Magno, the National Bureau of Investigation assistant director for investigation, said they will look into Villanueva’s allegations “but at this moment, we cannot comment on the investigation and intelligence gathering that we are conducting.”
Director Ferlo Silvio, of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, said their agency is also looking into the information.
BATO CONCERNED
Before the hearing was suspended, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former PNP chief, pressed Guo to name the former PNP chief allegedly in the POGO payroll.
“Puwede bang malaman kung sino itong former PNP chief? I am concerned because I am a former PNP chief at baka mamaya may lalabas na script diyan na si Bato ay tumatanggap ng pera galing sa iyo (Can you identify that former PNP chief? I am concerned because I am a former PNP chief and maybe soon there would be a ‘script’ that will come out saying that Bato has been receiving money coming from you),” Dela Rosa said.
Guo replied: “Wala pong ganon pong nangyayari. Sigurado po ako wala po talagang nangyayari (There is nothing like that. I am very sure that there is no such thing).”
Guo said it was only during her appearance at the Senate hearings that she first met Dela Rosa in person.
Dela Rosa then asked Villanueva to divulge the identity of the former PNP chief he was referring to.
“Your honor, I do not have any confirmation but I’m sure you’re not the one, I think so,” Villanueva said.
In her closing statement, Hontiveros said that despite the web of lies and “evasive statements thrown around during this hearing,” an important information has been disclosed — that a former PNP chief is linked to Guo.
“Tama nga na ang POGO money ay umabot na sa pinakamataas na baitang ng ating gobyerno, kung totoo ito. Kung hindi natin napigilan ang salot na ito, baka tama nga na ang the next president, the next senators, the next local government leaders of our country are bankrolled ng POGO money (Our suspicions are right that POGO money has reached high officials of the government, if this is true. If we have not stopped these [illegal POGOs], we may have a president, the next set of senators, the next local government leaders of our country bankrolled with POGO money),” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros said the alleged links of a former PNP chief to illegal POGO operations “is both a public order and national security concern.”
She said if the allegations of Pagcor senior vice president for security Raul Villanueva are true, “this shows how vulnerable our law enforcers have become to POGO money.”
Hontiveros said the committee has also received such information from various sources but will allow law enforcement agencies to conduct their investigations.
She said it is unacceptable to have a former PNP chief with ties to the illegal POGO industry.
“To bring back trust in our institutions, there must be accountability,” she added.
The Department of Justice said a disciplinary case will be filed against the lawyers of Guo before the Supreme Court.
He did not name the lawyers but DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said it involves the “misbehavior” of Guo’s lawyers.
“For sure, meron kaming kasong ihahain sa Korte Suprema na disciplinary case para doon sa possible misbehaviors nung mga abogado (For sure, we will file a disciplinary case before the Supreme Court regarding the possible misbehaviors of the lawyers),” Ty said, citing in particular the “fake” counter-affidavit submitted by Guo’s camp in her qualified trafficking in persons case before the DOJ. — With Raymond Africa and Ashzel Hachero
“Sa kanila nanggaling ‘yung counter-affidavit, sila nag-draft nito, tapos sila ang nag-attach sa motion to admit, sila ang nag-make of record dito sa DOJ (The fake counter-affidavit came from them, they were the ones who drafted and attached the motion to admit. They were the ones who made the record to the DOJ),” he added.
The counter-affidavit was notarized last August 14 in San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan. The lawyer who notarized the document — Elmer Galicia — admitted doing so even if Guo did not appear before him.
Guo said she signed the last page of her counter-affidavit before she left the Philippines last July.
Ty said the disciplinary case would serve as a signal to other lawyers not to disregard cases at the DOJ and to always adhere to the code of conduct that governs their profession.
Last month, DOJ Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano said there’s a possibility that Galicia may have mis-used his notarial authority.
“Hindi naman tama ‘yung kanyang ginawang proseso. Hindi nga siya daw sure kung si Mayor Alice Guo ba talaga ‘yung humarap sa kanya (There is something wrong with the process. He was not even sure if it was mayor Alice Guo who faced him),” Clavano said then.
