Alice Guo camp looking into possible case vs. Al Jazeera over Chinese spy report

The camp of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo on Friday said it is looking into the possible filing of a case against international news channel Al Jazeera over its documentary where Guo was indicated as a Chinese spy by a Chinese man detained in Thailand.

“On our part, we’re studying legal possibility na pwedeng file-an ng case ‘yung Al Jazeera for this malicious insinuation. Asan ba yung hustisya diyan? Na mag a-allege ka ng wala ka man lang basehan,” lawyer Stephen David, Guo’s counsel, said.

(On our part, there's a legal possibility to file a case against Al Jazeera for this malicious insinuation. Where is the justice there? To allege something without any basis.)

The Al Jazeera documentary covered Chinese businessman She Zhijiang, who claimed to be a Chinese spy.

The documentary reported that encrypted files left by She included a dossier of Guo, also identified as Guo Hua Ping. It also featured She saying that both he and Guo dedicated their lives to China’s Ministry of State Security.

Guo, for her part, has denied knowing or having any connection with She.

GMA News Online has asked Al Jazeera for comment but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.

The Department of Justice has said that it will probe the allegations and coordinate with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and National Security Agency (NSA) to determine the veracity of the information.

David, meanwhile, welcomed the investigation.

“Kung totoo ‘yan, kasuhan ninyo. Kung hindi totoo ‘yan, clarify niyo. Kasi kawawa naman ‘yung mga tao,” he said.

(If that's true, charge them. If it's not true, clarify the situation. The people affected by this are pitiful.)

Guo is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court as well as 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. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News