Custody transfer from NBI: Guo sis in Senate; Ong in House

SENATE APPEARANCE A team from the National Bureau of Investigation brings Zhang Mier, also known as Shiela Guo, sister of dismissed Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, to the Senate on Monday. She is expected to appear before a Pogo inquiry at the Senate today. —Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — Shiela Guo, the sister of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, was turned over to the Senate on Monday by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, where she was held after she and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, representative of a raided illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Porac, Pampanga, were arrested by Indonesian authorities and sent back to the Philippines on Aug. 22.

Wearing a plain brown shirt and a black face mask, Shiela was brought to the Senate detention facility around noon, her hands cuffed in front of her while a female NBI agent escorted her to the detention facility.

She was visited moments later by her lawyer, Stephen David, who is also Alice’s counsel.

READ: Sheila Guo, Cassandra Ong back in PH after arrest in Indonesia

Roberto Ancan, chief of the Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms, said Shiela immediately underwent a medical examination as part of their standard procedure.

According to Senate President Francis Escudero, Guo’s sister will remain under their custody unless the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality, chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, lifts its arrest order against her.

Arnel Jose Bañas, the Senate spokesperson, said both Shiela and Ong, the representative of Pogo hub Lucky South 99, would appear at Tuesday’s hearing, which Hontiveros would be presiding over as head of the Senate subcommittee on justice.

House custody

Also on Monday, NBI agents formally turned Ong over to the House of Representatives, which has issued an arrest warrant after citing her for contempt.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the head of the House’s quad committee, said there were many members of the super panel—made up of the committees on dangerous drugs, on public order and safety, on public accounts, and on human rights—who were hoping to get answers from Ong pertaining to illegal Pogo operations.

As this developed, Ferdinand Topacio, Ong’s legal counsel, on Monday questioned the legal basis of the NBI to detain his client, arguing that Ong had no pending case or any warrant issued by a court.

After arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 around 5 p.m. on Thursday, Shiela and Ong were transferred to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) central office in Manila for processing.

Around 10 p.m. that same day, the BI turned over their legal and physical custody to the NBI in Quezon City, where they were detained until Monday.

“I was questioning that before with the [BI]. Why is the NBI taking custody of Cassie Li Ong? Should you not have turned her over to the House of Representatives?” Topacio said in a news forum in Quezon City.

In a statement on Sunday, the BI said Ong was arrested by the NBI on “charges related to a possible criminal case.”

According to Topacio, his client underwent inquest proceedings on Aug. 24, during which they formally objected, arguing that “the charges should not be subject to inquest.”

The lawyer explained that an inquest is for cases of warrantless arrest where the accused was caught in the act.

Otherwise, he said, it should go through the normal process of filing a complaint-affidavit.

Surrender feelers

Meanwhile, David said Shiela was “ready” to testify in the Senate for the first time since its various committees conducted their respective investigation into the Pogo industry.

“I just advised her to tell the truth… I told her to cooperate,” David told members of the Senate media after speaking with his client.

“She was actually supposed to testify because she has nothing to hide. But since cases are already filed against her, she may invoke, on certain questions, her right against self-incrimination,” the lawyer added.

As to Alice, David claimed that the fugitive mayor had conveyed to him over the phone that she was already willing to yield to Philippine authorities after Shiela and Ong were held in Batam, Indonesia.

But David, who had earlier insisted that his client was still in the country, said he had no idea about Guo’s whereabouts.

“Actually, she confirmed to me last Thursday that she wants to surrender. But after that, I could no longer contact her, unfortunately,” he said.

“I want her to face the law, face the court, because she has a good (legal) defense… I told her that she would be eventually caught because you cannot run away from the law,” he added.