Alice Guo asks DOJ to accept counter-affidavit on human trafficking complaint

Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said that the camp of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo filed another motion asking the Department of Justice to accept her counter-affidavit in the human trafficking complaint against her. 

In a media briefing, Clavano said that the motion was filed Friday.

“Nag file po sila ng isa pang motion dito sa ating panel of prosecutors para i-renew ‘yung request nila na i-admit ‘yung counter affidavit ni Alice Guo,” he said

(They filed another motion with our panel of prosecutors to renew their request to admit Alice Guo's counter-affidavit.)

In August, Guo filed a motion asking the DOJ to admit her counter-affidavit, where she asked the department to dismiss her trafficking complaint.

Guo’s counter-affidavit was filed days after the complaint against her was submitted for resolution on August 6.

It was notarized on August 14 in San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan.

The lawyer who notarized it later admitted that Guo did not personally swear before him, which was required.

“What they wanted to do was to reaffirm the counter-affidavit dahil siguro alam na po nila na hindi tama ‘yung ginawa nilang proseso where they actually filed it for the first time,” Clavano said.

(What they wanted to do was to reaffirm the counter-affidavit because they likely knew that the process they had undertaken was incorrect when they initially filed it for the first time.)

According to Clavano, Atty. Elmer Galicia, the lawyer who notarized Guo’s counter-affidavit, will face criminal and administrative cases.

“Hindi naman po pwede ‘yan na mag no-notarize ka ng isang dokumento na hindi mo naman kita ‘yung ang swe-swear sa harap mo. So we believe that there are definitely actionable things here that need to be, I guess, taken advantage of,” he said.

(It’s not okay to notarize a document without actually seeing the person swear an oath in front of you. So, we believe that there are certainly actionable things here that need to be taken advantage of.)

“This is also a way for us to signal to the legal profession that we have to take what we do seriously. [Hindi] dahil lang po marami namang notaryo, hindi naman ibig sabihin na maliit ang trabaho nila. They contribute as well to the integrity to the legal profession,” he added.  

(This is also a way for us to signal to the legal profession that we have to take what we do seriously. Just because there are many notaries, it doesn't mean their job is insignificant. They too contribute to the integrity of the legal profession.)

Further, he said he believed that Guo's filing was done “out of convenience.”

“Pero sa tingin ho natin ay hindi naman pwe-pwede na dahil nandito lang siya. Dahil kung hindi naman siya nahuli, hindi din naman siya makakapag file. So this is made out of convenience from her camp,” he said.

(However, in our opinion, it's not alright just because she's here. If she hadn't been caught, she wouldn't be able to file it anyway. So this is made out of convenience from her camp.)

“We leave it up to the prosecutors to really decide on whether or not it is justified to accept that motion,” he added. —LDF, GMA Integrated News