Guo's camp to raise plea on suspension to Court of Appeals

The camp of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will raise their appeal to lift the six-month preventive suspension against her to the Court of Appeals (CA), her lawyer said Thursday.

Atty. Stephen David, Guo’s legal counsel, issued the remark after the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) junked Guo’s bid, saying it is standing by its preliminary findings that there are sufficient grounds to hold that the evidence against Guo and the other respondents are strong.

“Although I respect the decision of the Ombudsman, iaakyat ko ‘yan sa CA para doon mabigyan ng review at mabigyan ng pagkakataon na ma pag-aralan mabuti kung tama ba ‘yung naging desisyon ng Ombudsman,” he said on GMA Integrated News’ Unang Balita.

The OMB suspended Guo and two other local government officials in May amid the investigation on her  reported involvement with a raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her municipality.

This is over the complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which is accusing them of committing grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.

Guo is at the center of the Senate investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators hub in Bamban after several seized documents showed that she was personally involved in the processing of documents for its operations. She has denied the allegations against her.

Her citizenship was also questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News