Guo wants perjury, falsification raps dismissed

Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo —House of Representatives photo

MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo went to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday to seek the dismissal of the perjury and falsification complaints filed against her.

Guo, who arrived under heavy escort from the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory, is detained on charges of qualified human-trafficking over her alleged involvement in the illegal activities of Zun Yuan Technology, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Bamban town.

In a complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation on Oct. 3, she was accused of committing falsification by a notary public, use of falsified documents, perjury and obstruction of justice in relation to the counteraffidavit notarized by lawyer Elmer Galicia while she was outside the country on Aug. 14.

READ: Alice Guo’s among 1 million duplicate fingerprints found by Comelec

The notarized counteraffidavit was submitted as part of her motion asking the DOJ to reopen its preliminary investigation of the qualified human-trafficking complaint filed against her in June. Galicia, with four alleged accomplices—Dante Catapay, Cheryl Medina, Catherine Salazar and Geraldine Pepito—was also implicated in the perjury, falsification cases and obstruction of justice.

Palmer Mallari, head of the NBI’s “Task Force Alice Guo,” earlier said his team collected sample signatures of Guo for comparison and found these did not match the supposed signature appearing on her counteraffidavit.

But her lawyer, Stephen David, told reporters that she could not be held liable for the alleged falsification of the notarized counteraffidavit, arguing that “she was no longer in the country; how could she have participated in the notarization?” —Jane Bautista