Alice Guo to skip final Senate hearing on POGOs due to conflict in schedule

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will not attend the final Senate hearing on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) on Tuesday morning as she is set to attend a court hearing in Pasig City. 

“Yes. Pasig (court) for bail hearing,” Guo’s lawyer Atty. Nicole Jamilla told GMA News Online in a message when asked if the detained former mayor will not attend the Senate hearing. 

Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) spokesperson Jail Superintendent Jayrex Bustinera said the court rejected the Senate committee’s order for Guo’s attendance to the panel’s hearing. 

“Yes po. The Court did not grant the Order to attend the Committee hearing as there is conflict of schedule with the Court Hearing of RTC 167 Pasig,” Bustinera told GMA News Online in a message. 

Based on court order, the request of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality to allow Guo and her co-accused to appear before the Senate hearing “cannot be granted considering that there is a scheduled hearing on 26 November 2024 at 8:30 o'clock in the morning concerning the cases to which these accused are charged with.”

Guo is facing a qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court and a graft case before a Valenzuela City court due to her alleged involvement in the illegal activities of a POGO hub that was raided by authorities in Bamban.

The dismissed mayor is also facing a tax evasion complaint, 87 counts for money laundering, and a perjury and falsification complaint before the Justice Department.

Guo — who according to government authorities is the same person as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping — has denied the accusations against her. —KBK, GMA Integrated News