Alice Guo’s lawyer won’t force her to answer questions if she doesn’t want to

The legal counsel of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo said he will not force his client to answer if she does not want to, as he said this could incriminate her as the probe on her alleged involvement in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and crime syndicates continue.

According to Guo’s lawyer Atty. Stephen David, he will advise his client not to avoid saying anything that would incriminate her as she is set to face the Senate on Monday, September 9, 2024.

“‘Yun ang dilemma kasi diba? Wala sanang problema ‘yan kaya lang kung may kaso ka kasi, papaano naman kung may mga salita doon na magiging incriminating laban sa’yo, magagamit laban sa’yo sa husgado. Siyempre hindi ko siya pipilitin sumagot kung ayaw niya sumagot,” he said in a report by Sandra Aguinaldo on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(That is the dilemma, right? There should be no problem there but if you have cases, what if you talk and that would be incriminating you, it would be used against you in court. Of course I will not force her to answer if she does not want to.)

A day before the Senate hearing, Guo was reported to experience stomach ache after drinking tap water at the custodial center in Camp Crame. She was said to have felt better as of Sunday afternoon.

“Parang nanibago daw po doon sa tubig po na gripo po kasi may gripo po doon, so humiling po siya na kung pupuwedeng makapagpasok po ng bottled water at ayun, pinagbigyan naman po ‘yun,” Philippine National Police spokesperson PCol. Jean Fajardo said.

(It seems like her body was adjusting to water from the faucet, so she asked if she could bring in bottled water and the request was granted.)

Fajardo said Guo will be transported to the Senate at 8 a.m. on Monday, September 9, with security detail for her security. She will be in handcuffs and will be wearing a bulletproof vest.

“Magbigay ng detalye kung paano ba siya talaga nakatakas at sinong tumulong sa kanilang makatakas (Give details on how she escaped and who helped her escape),” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo dzBB.

For its part, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Guo may be considered a state witness if it is proven that there are bigger players behind the accusations.

“Kung matumbok natin at may makilala pa tayong mas malaking tao dito na nagpapalikod sa mga illegal activities ng (If we find and identify a bigger player behind the illegal activities ) POGO, then she may become a state witness,” DOJ assistant secretary Mico Clavano said in the same report.

Guo has been detained after she was deported to the Philippines early morning on Friday, after being arrested in Tangerang City in Indonesia last Wednesday.

She was reported to have asked Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos for help over what she said were death threats against her.

Guo is believed to have used her staff as decoys when she fled from the Philippines amid the investigations surrounding her and her supposed involvement in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), as she admitted that most of her workers had long hair.

While in the immigration headquarters in Indonesia, Guo was questioned by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) if she was the person shown in a photo that resembled her.

“Ano po, si ano… Tao ko po ‘yan. Lahat halos ng tao ko long hair (She is my employee. Almost all my employees have long hair)… Slimmer version,” she said in response, as aired on a separate report by John Consulta on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

A source believes that Guo may have used doppelgangers or lookalikes as decoys to evade authorities who were trying to capture her.

To recall, the Senate issued an arrest order against her on July 13 for repeatedly failing to attend its investigation into the raided POGO hub in her town.

She is also facing a total of 87 counts of money laundering, along with a human trafficking complaint in connection to the raid.

The Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109 also issued an arrest warrant for Guo last Thursday in connection with a graft case. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News