PAOCC: Criminal charges vs. Alice Guo to be filed next week

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Saturday said that criminal charges will be filed against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo next week.

PAOCC said the charges are in relation to the alleged illegal activities in a compound located behind her town’s municipal hall.

The charges will also include others who may be involved in the supposed illegal operations. 

PAOCC spokesperson Winston John Casio said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City that the members of the interagency council —composed of PAOCC, Department of Justice, Office of the Solicitor General, Philippine National Police, among others— “will meet this Tuesday to finally decide on the charges to be filed against the incorporators, beneficial owners of Zun Yuan, the Bamban operation.”

“So, we can expect charges; criminal charges will be filed against a good number of people on Friday with regards to the Bamban operation,” Casio said.

The PAOCC spokesperson added that the criminal charges to be filed are “serious” and “non-bailable” against Guo and those involved in the Bamban POGO hub.

Guo is currently being investigated by the Senate amid her alleged involvement in the operations of Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) entity that was raided by police and the military in March for alleged illegal activities inside the Baofu Land Development Inc. compound located behind the Bamban Municipal Hall in Tarlac.

Casio said Guo’s name and signature “are in so many documents.”

As to what other pieces of evidence are in the possession of the PAOCC, he said “until such time cases were filed in court, I don’t want to give the lawyers of Mayor Guo what are types of evidence we have on-hand, specifically kasi baka makapag handa.”

“Masasabi lang po namin (All we can say is) we have strong evidence that will support the criminal allegations against Mayor Alice Guo and a good number of people in the Bamban operations,” added Casio.

Last week, Senator Risa Hontiveros said possible cases to be filed against Guo became more “solid” after an executive session in the Senate with various government agencies.

Sought for comment, Atty. Nicole Jamilla, Guo’s lawyer, said, “We will make the necessary statement in due time.”

Guo previously appealed her suspension and that the complaints filed against her over her alleged links to criminal activities of POGO in her town are "baseless." 

Her camp said that the accusations against her "are an amalgam of exceedingly distorted, exaggerated and fabricated stories viciously designed to hoodwink this Honorable Office that herein respondent committed grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service."

The Office of the Ombudsman suspended Guo and two other local officials earlier this month following the administrative complaint filed by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). —VAL, GMA Integrated News