Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, appears before the Senate on May 22, 2024. Sen. Risa Hontiveros has flagged Guo’s alleged ties to Chinese “criminals” during the continuation of the hearing into her links to POGO hubs in her town. —File photo by Marianne Bermudez | Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — Suspended Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, is contemplating whether she would voluntarily surrender herself or appear before the Senate, according to her legal counsel, Stephen David.
In an interview over Radyo 630 on Monday, David said she talked to Guo on Sunday for over an hour, advising her that she could not evade arrest forever.
“I talked to her yesterday for more than an hour. Of course, this is our advice to her: You can’t hide forever, right? And remember, this is a Senate warrant of arrest. So this is not to punish you or anything. You were subpoenaed just so that you can testify or just so that you can be a resource person in the Senate because they want to ask you questions for which only you have the answers,” David said during that interview, speaking in Filipino.
Asked what Guo’s response was, David said his client’s main concern was the trauma she had experienced, considering the number of allegations being hurled at her.
“This was her reaction. She said – she calls me ‘Tito’ [a respectful address, which literally is ‘uncle’ in Filipino]: Of course, Tito, look at what’s been happening to me, the recent developments. I’m just getting more and more confused. I feel more traumatized. In fact, I sensed personally she was afraid. She’s afraid of something. Many people are threatening her. So she is worried about her security and what could happen if she is imprisoned,” David said.
But after the conversation, did Guo decide to comply with the Senate arrest order?
In the same radio interview, David was pressed to disclose whether the embattled mayor would appear before the Senate or surrender herself.
“She will try. [I told her] I could talk to people at the Senate to give you a decent place there as an elected public official because you deserve respect,” he said.
“She said she would contemplate about her options,” he added.
On Saturday, the Senate issued an arrest order for Guo and seven others for refusing to appear, despite due notices, at the hearing of the Committee on Women last July 10.
The arrest order, shared with the media, was signed by committee chair Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Senate President Francis Escudero.
The order states that Guo’s refusal to appear before the Senate “delayed, impeded, and obstructed” the inquiry into the reported violation of human trafficking, serious illegal detention, and physical abuse and torture on the premises of an internet gaming licensee of the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp.
The Senate committee subjected Guo to scrutiny after learning of her alleged ties to illegal pogo firm Zun Yuan Technology Inc. in Bamban, Tarlac. It also raised questions about her citizenship, leading to allegations of her being a Chinese spy, which she vehemently denied.
Apart from Guo, the committee also issued arrest orders for her relatives Sheila Guo, Wesley Leal Guo, Jian Zhong Guo, Seimen Guo, and her suspected mother Wen Yi Lin.
Also ordered arrested were Dennis Cunanan, an alleged authorized representative of Pogos, and Guo’s accountant, Nancy Gamo, who is now under the custody of the Senate.