MANILA, Philippines –  The Senate has ordered the arrest of embattled Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, for “unduly refusing to appear, despite due notices,” in the upper chamber’s probe into illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGOs).

The arrest order dated July 11 was released to the media on Saturday, July 13, signed by Senate President Chiz Escudero and Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate women on children, family relations, and gender equality.

Apart from the mayor, the Senate also ordered the arrest of her family members, her former accountant Nancy Gamo, and former government official Dennis Cunanan, the representative of the Bamban POGO linked to Guo, for the same reason

• Wen Yi Lin
• Seimen L. Guo
• Jian Zhong Guo
• Wesley Guo
• Sheila Guo
• Nancy J. Gamo
• Dennis Cunanan

BREAKING. Senate issues arrest order against embattled Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac. @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/DOqI4FSdK3

— Bonz Magsambol (@bnzmagsambol) July 13, 2024

The Senate Sergeant-At-Arms was directed to carry out and implement the arrest order against Guo and the seven others within 24 hours.

‘Just the first step’

“The issuance of the arrest order is only the first step to making Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping accountable to our laws,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“Sa dami ng kasinungalingan at posibleng krimen ni Mayor Alice at ng lahat ng sangkot sa POGO (With all the lies and possible crimes of Mayor Alice and all those involved in POGOs), this is not merely procedural. This arrest order upholds the mandate of the Senate to safeguard the well-being of Filipinos,” she added.

To Guo and the others that her Senate panel had cited in contempt and ordered arrested, Hontiveros said: “Magpakita na kayo. Hindi mabubura ng inyong pagtatago ang katotohanan.” (Show up. Hiding cannot erase the truth.)

Prior to the arrest order, Escudero had said that the Senate was ready to order Guo’s arrest if she snubbed the hearing again. The embattled mayor snubbed the Senate probe for the second time on Wednesday, July 10. She first skipped the hearing on Wednesday, June 26.

In the arrest order, the Senate said that Guo’s non-attendance at the inquiries was “delaying, impeding, and obstructing” the probe into alleged human trafficking, serious illegal detention, and physical abuse and torture within facilities of POGOs, which are regulated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

A day before the Wednesday’s hearing, Guo’s lawyer, Stephen David, said that Guo was not keen on attending the as she was supposedly “traumatized” during the past hearings, claiming she was “shamed” there.

The lawyer had said that Guo was still in the country in that time. “Magkausap kami sa phone, she assured me na nasa Pilipinas siya. Ako naniniwala ako na nasa Pilipinas lang siya,” he said. (I spoke with her via phone call and she assured me that she’s still in the Philippines. I believe she’s still here.)

On June 27, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that the fingerprints of the suspended mayor and Guo Hua Ping – the Chinese woman believed to be real identity of the mayor – match, meaning they are “one and same” person, according to Hontiveros.

Hontiveros said that the NBI finding was the “strongest evidence” to strip Guo of her elective post. She also urged the Office of the Solicitor General “to expedite its filing of a quo warranto case against” Guo.

The Bamban mayor is under preventive suspension ordered by the Ombudsman. The suspension was due to a graft case filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government over serious illegal acts and her link to illegal activities of POGOs. – Rappler.com