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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider Where should Alice G(u)o?"

Where should Alice G(u)o?"

Published Sep 11, 2024 04:03 pm

‘TOL VIEWS

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As the Senate resumes its probe on the highly controversial cases of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, questions on jurisdiction and custody of the former local official drew public interest. With several cases pending before the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman, the Commission on Elections, and with the Senate very recently citing her in contempt, where should Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, be detained?

I have argued in the Senate hearing last Sept. 10 that the Senate of the Philippines, as an institution, should have legal custody of Alice Guo. Only the Senate has a valid warrant of arrest for the dismissed official. Hence, the institution should have primary custody over Guo as the legislative body deepens its inquiry on the charges of human trafficking and involvement in the illegal operations of POGO. Branch 109 of the Regional Trial Court in Capas, Tarlac had no jurisdiction when it issued a warrant of arrest for Alice Guo on Sept. 5. Under RA 10660, which I also quoted during the Sept. 10 Senate hearing, public officials “shall be tried in a judicial region other than where the official holds office,” this provision of the law being premised on the elimination of undue influence and interference as a case against a public official is being tried.

The Senate of the Philippines, I reiterate, bears the right to issue the directives as to where former mayor Alice Guo will be detained. As a matter of fact, the warrant of arrest issued by the Senate was the same warrant used to arrest Alice Guo in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sept. 4. 

I call on other agencies of the government to collaborate with the Senate, for we share a common strand in this Alice Guo fiasco. We harbor similar questions in mind. We are all after the truth. It is, I think, in the best interest of the nation that government branches and agencies interlinked by this controversy should unite and cooperate to make clear what is blurred, to uncover what is being hidden. While further delving into the facts of the Alice Guo case will expose the irregularities within some of our own government agencies, I think this will likewise allow for a cleansing process to take place in the Philippine bureaucracy.

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TOL VIEWS Senator Francis N. Tolentino
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