Alice Guo pleads not guilty to qualified human trafficking

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo on Friday pleaded not guilty to the charge of qualified human trafficking before a Pasig court, her lawyer said.

Guo, also identified as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, pleaded not guilty before the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 through videoconference.

“Arraignment, of course, we pleaded not guilty or ma’am pleaded not guilty to the crime alleged,” Atty. Nicole Jamilla, one of Guo’s legal counsel, said in an interview.

Jamila said that Guo is firmly denying the allegations against her.

“She has no participation in trafficking talaga. Yun naman po, without going into further details, kasi baka ma subjudice tayo, pero on the part of our client, she is firm na not guilty po sya dito sa crime na pinaparatang sa kanya,” she said.

(She has no involvement in human trafficking whatsoever. That’s all, without going into further details to avoid subjudice, but our client is firmly maintaining that she is not guilty of the crime she's being accused of.)

The case is connected to the raid of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Guo’s former town in June, where over 800 Filipinos and foreigners were rescued.

The Pasig RTC earlier directed Guo’s transfer from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center to the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory.

Aside from her human trafficking case, Guo is also facing a graft case before a Valenzuela court.

A quo warranto petition was also filed against Guo with a Manila court as well as a petition to cancel her birth certificate before a Tarlac court.

She is also facing a tax evasion complaint as well as 87 counts for money laundering before the Justice Department.

Walter Long

Meanwhile, the arraignment of Walter Long, the Malaysian national who was nabbed at the Bamban POGO hub earlier this year, did not proceed due to a pending motion to suspend the proceedings.

Pagbasa ng sakdal kay Walter Wong sa kasong qualified trafficking, hindi natuloy sa Pasig RTC matapos maghain ng motion ang kanyang kampo @dzbb @gmanews pic.twitter.com/LW1IVcCrCj

— Mark Makalalad (@MMakalalad) September 27, 2024

“Ang ginawa ho, kahit hindi ho siya kasama sa preliminary investigations sa DOJ ay sinama siya sa kaso. So nakakatakot ito, ha, nakakabahala itong ginawa ng DOJ na ito,” Atty. Christian Vargas, his legal counsel, said.

(What was done was even though he was not part of the preliminary investigations at the DOJ, he was included in the case. What the DOJ did is frightening and worrisome.) 

The lawyer said that Long’s right to due process was already violated.  

—VAL, GMA Integrated News