Hontiveros asks to stop celebrity treatment of former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo 

Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Thursday that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo should not be treated like a celebrity after some government workers had photos with her.

“Paalala lalo na sa mga kawani ng gobyerno: Si Alice Guo ay pugante. May kasong human trafficking. Hindi po ‘yan celebrity,” the senator said in a Facebook post.

(A reminder to all government officers: Alice Guo is a fugitive. She is charged for human trafficking. She’s not a celebrity.)

Guo was arrested in Tangerang City, Indonesia on Wednesday and was in the custody of the Indonesian Police at Jatanras Mabes Polri.

She was turned over to Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Philippine National Police chief Police General Rommel Marbil by Indonesian authorities on Thursday.

During the turnover of custody, the embattled former public official was in high spirits. Guo held both her thumbs up when asked if she was okay, "I'm good, I'm good!"

In a photo shared by Senator Joel Villanueva earlier, a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officer was taking a selfie with Guo and Abalos during the turnover.

Meanwhile, in the viral group photo, Guo was seen smiling while in the company of some NBI and Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents while she was being escorted to Indonesian immigration before her return to Manila on early Friday.

The officials were criticized and the photo became a target of jokes online, as some netizens were quick to call out that the former public official is the subject of various charges.

Villanueva earlier called out these government agents for their “unprofessional” actions.

The 33-year-old dismissed mayor was ordered arrested by the Senate in July for repeatedly failing to attend the upper chamber’s investigation into the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her town.

In June, authorities also filed a complaint against Guo and others for alleged human trafficking in connection to the raided POGO hub in Bamban. This was submitted for resolution last month.

The dismissed mayor is also facing a deportation case from the Bureau of Immigration and 87 counts of money laundering. — BAP, GMA Integrated News