Non-bailable qualified trafficking in persons complaint was filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, June 21, against suspended Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac.
Guo, former Technology Resource Center (TRC) head Dennis L. Cunanan, and several others were charged for their alleged involvement in the setting up and operation of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility that was raided by law enforcers last March 13 in Bamban town.
Also charged in the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) were Chinese national Huang Zhiyang and the corporate officers of the Zun Yuan Technology Center.
In a press briefer, the DOJ said the filing of the complaint was done after further investigation on the raid of Sun Yuan Technology Center based on a search warrant issued by the court.
It said: "Compelling evidence surfaced linking Mayor Alice Leal Guo, who is now serving as Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, Dennis L. Cunanan, a Chinese national named Huang Zhiyang, and corporate officers of companies operating under compound or hub located at Bamban, Tarlac allegedly owned by Mayor Guo herself.”
Last May 31, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) ordered the preventive suspension for not more than six months of Guo and two other Bamban town officials after finding that there is strong evidence against them in the administrative charges of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service, and gross neglect of duty.
Also preventively suspended without pay in an order issued by Ombudsman Samuel R. Martires were Business Permit and Licensing Officer Edwin Ocampo and Municipal Legal Officer Adenn Sigua.
The administrative charges against Guo and the two other town officials were filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) due to their reported involvement in the offshore gaming operation of Zun Yuan Technology.
One of the documents seized during the raid was a Tarlac Electric Cooperative, Inc. Statement of Account dated March 8, 2024 under the name of Guo.
In the case of Cunanan, the former TRC head had been convicted in 2023 by the Sandiganbayan of graft charges for his involvement in the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
Also in its press briefer, the DOJ said "the filing of this complaint should serve as a warning to all who engage in illegal POGO activities that victimize hapless individuals whose only intent was to get decent employment."
“Unfortunately, illegal POGO operators exploited their vulnerabilities and forced, threatened, and intimidated them into forced labor,” it also said.