Alice Guo asks SC to nullify Senate subpoena, prevent her from being invited

The camp of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to annul and set aside the subpoena issued against her in connection with the investigation into the raided POGO hub in her municipality.

In a 78-page petition for certiorari, Guo asked the High Court to annul the Subpoena Ad Testificandum issued by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality.

“Petitioner Guo, a child, a daughter, a woman, a public servant, and one with family and name of her own, has already been adjudged guilty of all sorts of crimes,” the petition read.

“Her constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights have been repeatedly violated, ignored, and/or disregarded,” it added.

Aside from this, she asked the court to direct the committee to desist from further inviting or causing her to appear as a resource person.  

The SC was also asked to issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction ordering the committee and everyone under its authority from implementing the subpoena and placing Guo as a resource person.

JUST IN: The camp of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo files a petition asking the Supreme Court to annul the subpoena issued against Guo and order the Senate committee to desist from further inviting her @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/wtPLfF6JFw

— Joahna Lei Casilao (@joahnacasilao) July 10, 2024

The respondent is the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, represented by its chairperson, Senator Risa Hontiveros.

“Public Respondent ought to remember that a legislative inquiry must prove to be in aid of legislation and not for other purposes,” the petition read.

Further, Guo said that the committee “totally, whimsically, and arbitrarily discriminates” against the institution it is sworn to protect.

Hontiveros’ camp declined to comment at this time. 

Earlier, the Senate panel ordered the issuance of an arrest order against Guo after she skipped the resumption of the investigation.

Guo’s lawyer Stephen David previously said the Senate hearings have left the embattled mayor "traumatized."

The Senate committee, chaired by Hontiveros, is investigating Guo's supposed involvement in the illegal POGO hub that was raided in her own town.

Guo's citizenship is also being questioned due to her inconsistent testimonies about her background and the supposed dubious documents regarding her Filipino citizenship.

But Guo has denied involvement in illegal POGO activities and maintained that she is a Filipino citizen.

Violation of due process

In the petition, Guo argued that the Senate panel committed grave abuse of discretion, alleging that it continuously violated her constitutional rights and right to due process.

“The committee is immersed in their idea and conclusion that Petitioner is someone they imagined her to be, i.e a spy and criminal, and that anything she says is already part of the grandeur script to hide her true identity,” the petition read.

“With that, it clearly follows that her right to due process was and is being consistently violated for she was never afforded the opportunity to sufficiently explain her side, or worse, her side never really mattered in the first place,” it added.

Citing Ong v. The Senate of the Philippines, Guo said that the SC previously ruled that a Senate committee committed grave abuse of discretion when it cited two individuals in contempt and ordered their arrest before giving them an opportunity to be heard.

Also violated was Guo’s right to privacy, her camp said.

Aside from this, her camp claimed that the Senate committee failed to observe the procedural and substantive limitations of the constitution in the exercise of its power of inquiry in aid of legislation. 

She argued that the power of legislative inquiry does not give Congress the right to delve into the private affairs of a citizen.

“Her childhood was repeatedly challenged, even her ability to speak another language was questioned, and worst, her birthright was invalidated,” it said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recently confirmed that Guo and Chinese passport holder Guo Hua Ping have the same fingerprints.

Further, she also argued that the committee violated the Senate Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation.

“Thus, it is our submission that the Respondent Committee… has committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in handling the public hearings and executive sessions, in violation of established rules and jurisprudence,” it said.

— RSJ/ VAL, GMA Integrated News