Alice Guo as state witness? PAOCC says only if she points someone ‘higher’

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Saturday it will only consider making suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice a state witness if she points to someone "higher" than her. 

“Any state witness for that matter will have to be the least guilty in the entire conspiratorial chain in the commission of a crime," said PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City. 

“We wouldn’t be open to that discussion until and unless we get higher on the food chain in relation to the crime that this group has committed,” Casio added. 

But he added that "the way we appreciate the evidence on hand of what we have now so far as of this time she is not the least guilty.”

Sought for comment, Guo’s lawyer Atty. Stephen David said that “Mayor Alice never insinuated anything about being a state witness for the simple reason that she is not involved in any Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators  (POGO) operation.”

“She used to be the former owner of the land where the Baofu Land Development constructed several structures… one of the buildings was leased to Zun Yuan Technology, the POGO company… As far as Mayor Alice is concerned, she is only the previous President of Baofu Land, the lessor,” David said.

Guo is at the center of the ongoing probe into the raided POGO hub in Bamban over alleged illegal activities such as human trafficking, torture, and scamming.

The Bamban mayor was allegedly involved in the raided POGO hub after several documents showed that she was personally involved in the processing of documents for its operations.

Guo is also suspected to be part of a criminal syndicate operated by Chinese nationals.

Earlier this week, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged her to expose the "main players" in illegal POGOs in the country. 

Authorities have filed a complaint against Guo and 13 others for violation of Sections 4 and 6 of Republic Act (RA) 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 as amended by RA 10364, as further amended by RA 11862.

Guo was also referred to as “a.k.a Guo Hua Ping” in the complaint. This, as the National Bureau of Investigation found that she and Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping have the same fingerprints.
Most recently, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has filed a petition seeking to cancel the birth certificate of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.

Guo was suspened in June after the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against her with the Office of the Ombudsman. —VAL, GMA Integrated News