PAOCC: Enough evidence to charge, arrest Bamban Mayor Alice Guo as illegal POGO enabler

A senior official of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said they have enough evidence to charge and issue an arrest warrant against Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo who is being accused of being an enabler of an illegal POGO hub in her town.

This is according to PAOCC Spokesperson Dr. Winston John Casio in an interview over Super Radyo dzBB on Sunday morning.

“We’re fairly confident the panel of prosecutors na magsasagawa ng preliminary investigation dito would appreciate the evidence we did na malakas na ebidensya na hawak namin at tuluyan ng masasampahan si mayora at harinawa ay malabasan na ng warrant of arrest ng sa gayon ay makita ng sambayanang Pilipino na talagang kapag ikaw ay gumawa ng kalokohan with regards to scamming at ikaw ay naging enabler e matutuluyan ka po,”Casio said.

(We have strong evidence in hand that is enough to charge the mayor and hopefully pave the way for an arrest warrant to be issued so Filipinos can see that if you commit a crime you will be held accountable.) 

“That’s the right word for the mayor. Enabler po siya,” Casio said.

PAOCC  and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Friday filed a complaint against suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo and others for alleged human trafficking in connection to the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her municipality.

“Tatlong buwan ho namin inaral ang kasong ito. Ang sabi ng iba medyo napatagal. Ang amin lang po kaya napatagal ay masigurado lahat ng aming isasampa ay didikit. Sayang naman po yung efforts kung nagmadali ka pero yung kaso mo naman naitapon din,” the PAOCC official added.

(We studied the case for three months. Some say it took too long. On our part it took this long so we could be sure all the charges we will file would stick. It would be a wasted effort if we rushed things and the case was thrown out.)

Casio believes the filing of a case against the Bamban mayor has created a“chilling effect” for the other illegal POGO operators and those .

“Remember this is only the first of a series of cases. Actually na nga pala, the first was the case filed by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). As far as PAOCC is concerned it is the first of a series of cases,” Casio said.

“Hindi mangingime ang komisyon sapagkat maliwanag ang direktiba ng President na sinabi sa among chairman na si Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. The President clearly gave us marching orders na zero tolerance tayo dito – wherever the evidence leads us doon tayo pupunta,” he added.

(The commission will not hesitate because the President issued a clear directive to our chairman, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin… wherever the evidence leads us that is where we will go.)

Casio also issued a warning to other government officials who might be coddling illegal POGO hubs, “If merong mga local government units na nagiging pabaya or local chief executives na naging protektor, who look the other way, so on or so forth, talagang tatamaan ho ng asunto. Hindi pupuede na pabayaan natin kasi mahirap ho na pabayaan sila kasi nababastos na ho ang bayan natin eh.”

(If there are LGUs who have been lax or local chief executives who are protectors, you will be charged. We cannot allow this to occur since this is an insult to our country.)

Last week, Guo’s lawyers submitted a letter to the office of Bersamin to explain her side amid accusations against her, including the alleged involvement to the BAOFU Land Development, Inc., espionage, human trafficking, kidnapping, and money laundering. 

Other LGUs

According to Casio, around 40 LGUs have also reached out to PAOCC head Gilbert Cruz directly with concerns of the POGO establishments in their respective jurisdictions. 

“If ikaw ay alkalde sa isang lugar at hindi ka pinapapasok, kailangan mo ng iinvoke ang police power”, he said.

(if you are the mayor of a certain locality and you were denied access, you need to invoke police power.)

Casio said they have also received reports of several active and retired government officials with possible links to illegal POGOS either by virtue of carelessness and criminal involvement.

A panel of lawyers and state prosecutors are preparing cases through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

POGOs and the police

PAOCC also has photos of active and retired members of the PNP and other government agencies at parties or drinking sessions with POGO operators or authorized representatives but have yet to obtain solid evidence in anything illegal. Casio called on police officials to avoid further interaction to avoid any suspicion.

Earlier, Philippine National Police chief Police General Rommel Francisco Marbil warned cops they will face disciplinary actions if found protecting illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).—RF, GMA Integrated News