Alice Guo a no-show at DOJ hearing on human trafficking complaint

Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who is the subject of a Senate arrest order, again made no appearance before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to personally face the human trafficking complaint filed against her.

The embattled mayor was represented by her legal counsel.

Guo and her 13 co-respondents were expected to file their counter-affidavits earlier on the complaint against them in connection to the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Guo’s locality, where over 800 Filipinos and foreigners were rescued.

However, the deadline for the filing of the counter-affidavit was rescheduled after complainants Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a supplemental complaint affidavit.

PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio said they added a Filipino respondent in the complaint.

“Meron po siyang kinalaman doon sa management nung Zun Yuan Technology, Hongsheng, at saka ng Baofu Land Development,” Casio said.

(The respondent is involved in the management of Zun Yuan Technology, Hongsheng and Baofu Land Development.)

Casio said they also included four new witnesses-complainants.

He said these Filipinos will prove that the raided POGO hub was involved in scamming activities.

“Hindi lamang yun, papatunayan din po nila na sila po ay hindi nakakalabas ng malaya sa lugar. Kumbaga sila ay mga nakakulong doon. Eh, binibigyan lamang sila ng isang araw, isang buwan para makalabas. May bawas pa doon sa kanilang… sahod,” he said.

(Not only that, they will prove that they had no freedom to leave the compound. They were practically prisoners. They are only give one day per month outside. And this means deductions to their salaries.) 

Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Chairperson and Justice Undersecretary Nicky Ty said that the filing of the counter-affidavit by the respondents was moved to August 6.

“Non-extendible. Sabi din sa akin ng mga complainants, ng team ng law enforcement na after this, malamang hindi na sila mag re-reply affidavit,” he said.

For her part, Guo has denied involvement in illegal POGO activities and maintained that she is a Filipino citizen.

READ: TIMELINE: The plots and twists of the 'Alice Guo' probe

Last week, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said he asked the Bureau of Immigration to check if Guo or Guo Hua Ping has departed from the country’s formal exit points, saying that Guo might use her Chinese passport to escape the country.

Prior to this, however, Guo’s camp said that Guo was still in the Philippines as the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms tried to locate and arrest her. —RF, GMA Integrated News