Unlikely for Alice Guo to be state witness; seems one of most guilty — PAOCC

Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz on Friday said it is unlikely for suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo to be a state witness.

Cruz said that most witnesses are the “least guilty.”

“In this case, talagang nakikita natin parang si suspended Mayor Alice Guo ‘yung isa sa pinaka most guilty. So tingin ko hindi papasa ‘yan,” Cruz said in an interview on state-owned PTV for a pre-SONA special.

(In this case, we really see that suspended Mayor Alice Guo is one of the most guilty. So, I think, it will not pass.)

He later stressed, “Para sa akin po medyo malabo po ‘yun (for me, it’s unlikely).”

Last week, PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said they will only consider making Alice Guo a state witness if she pointed to someone “higher” than her. 

Casio, however, also stressed that any state witness will have to be the least guilty in the entire conspiratorial chain.

According to Cruz, all the evidence are seemingly pointing at the embattled mayor. 

“Lahat nagpo-point sa kanya eh, so parang siya ‘yung most guilty eh (everything is pointing at her, so it’s like she’s the most guilty),” Cruz said.

Guo is at the center of an ongoing probe into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban over illegal activities that include crypto and love scams.

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. The National Bureau of Investigation has found that Guo and Guo Hua Ping have the same fingerprints.

The Senate has ordered the issuance of an arrest order against Guo after she skipped the resumption of the investigation on the raided POGO hub.

For her part, Guo has asked the Supreme Court to annul and set aside the subpoena issued against her.—AOL, GMA Integrated News