Suspended Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac and the other 13 respondents did not appear on Friday, July 5, during the start of the preliminary investigation on the non-bailable trafficking in persons charges filed against them before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
But through their lawyers, Guo and her co-respondents were given until July 22 to file their counter-affidavits on the complaints filed by last June 21 by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
“Binigyan sila ng prosecution panel ng 15 days upang i-file ang kanilang counter-affidavit (The prosecution panel gave them 15 days to file their counter-affidavits),” Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty told journalists after the scheduled hearing.
Ty said Guo and the other respondents are required to appear before the panel of prosecutors when they file their counter-affidavits on July 22.
"Kailangan n’yong magpakita dito, kailangan kayo sumagot dahil kung di kayo sumagot baka makasuhan kayo (you have to appear and answer the charges because you don't you might get charged in court)," Ty told the respondents.
The complaint was filed on the alleged involvement of Guo and her co-respondents in the illegal activities of Zun Yuan Technology, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO), that got raided by authorities in Bamban last March 13 and resulted in the arrest of foreign nationals.
“Cases for Trafficking in Persons were filed against the arrested foreign nationals and are now pending before the Honorable Regional Trial Court of Tarlac, Branch 66,” the DOJ had earlier said.
The filing of the complaint against Guo and her co-respondents was a result of further investigation conducted on the raid of Zun Yuan Technology.