Abalos airs side on photo with Alice Guo

Sec. Benjamin Abalos Jr. of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, speaks to the members of the media at the Royal Star Aviation Hangar, Pasay City upon arrival from Indonesia on Friday, September 6, 2024. (Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. on Friday stressed that the photo of him with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping) in Indonesia was taken only for documentation purposes.

Abalos’ statement was in response to the backlash he received after a photo of him, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil and Guo went viral on social media.

According to Abalos, the photo was taken while he was talking with Marbil and Guo.

“This kind of photo, as long as it’s facing like that, you cannot tell what is [happening] next to you, etc. This photo is an offshoot of that meeting that was being documented. And I really do not know why she was posing like that.” Abalos said, speaking partly in Filipino, in a chance interview on the sidelines of a situation briefing in the province of Rizal.

“So I hope, as I said, that our countrymen will understand. It was never a selfie… This was taken while we were talking about things,” he said.

He further explained that photos in some cases could be taken out of context.

What matters, he stressed, is the fact that he brought Guo home.

“It was asked why was there a shaking of hands? I’m shaking hands with the Indonesian police. I thanked the Indonesian police next to me,” he said.

“There are angles like that. Be that as it may, this is the important thing. I’ve done my best, mission accomplished, I brought back Alice Guo”

Asked if selfies with Guo would now be banned within the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Abalos responded in the affirmative.

“It should really be like that. A selfie is a selfie, but the impropriety is there,” he said.

No special treatment

Meanwhile, Abalos also stressed that Guo was not getting any special treatment from the authorities.

“There are no special treatments. Right now she has a mugshot and she is now detained — just like an ordinary detainee,” Abalos said.

The alleged special treatment stemmed from the way Abalos talked to Guo in Indonesia — where people, particularly those online, took notice of how cordial the interior secretary was.

But Abalos stated that it was merely due to a small discussion they had about their past meeting when he met Guo during a meeting with all mayors of Tarlac.

“That’s all it is. There’s nothing to it,” Abalos said.

He reiterated that what’s “important” was that Guo was back, in the custodial center of the Philippine National Police, noting how the warrant of arrest against her stemmed from a case filed by the DILG.

Guo, who left the country in July, arrived in Manila around 1:10 a.m. Friday via a chartered flight.