Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said on Friday, Sept. 13 that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo's case in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Capas, Tarlac would be transferred to the Valenzuela RTC.
Citing a document issued by Presiding Judge Sarah Vedaña Delos Santos from RTC Branch 109 in Capas, Tarlac issued on Sept. 12, 2024, Tolentino said Guo's case was returned to the Executive Judge of RTC Capas, Tarlac, Ronald Leo Haban for his appropriate action.
Guo's case was scheduled for arraignment and pre-trial on Friday (Sept. 13) but was canceled.
"Cinacancel na nila yung scheduled pre-trial and arraignment today kasi wala silang jurisdiction kagaya nung sinabi ko nung Tuesday (They cancelled the scheduled pre-trial and arraignment today because they do not have jurisdiction like I said last Tuesday)," Tolentino told reporters in an interview.
"Hawak ko ngayon ang isang transmittal letter...papunta na po ang dokumento ng kaso sa Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela (I have with me a transmittal letter...the documents of the case is headed to the RTC of Valenzuela)," he added.
To recall, Tolentino had moved for the Senate to take custody of Guo during the Senate inquiry on Monday after arguing that the arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 109 in Capas was in violation of RA 10660 since Guo held office in Bamban which is located in the same judicial region (Third Judicial Region).
Under Section 2 of RA 10660 on jurisdiction, “...the cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court under this section shall be tried in a judicial region other than where the official holds office.”
He further emphasized this in a privileged speech on Tuesday.
“Ibig sabihin po, Mr. President, wala pong jurisdiction. Sang-ayon po dito, wala pong jurisdiction yung Capas, Tarlac, at binibigyan po ng poder ang Executive Judge na pumili ng pinakamalapit na judicial region (This means Mr. President, there's no jurisdiction. In accordance with this, Capas, Tarlac has no jurisdiction and the Executive Judge was given the power to choose the nearest judicial region),” Tolentino told his colleagues.
“I am stressing this, Mr. President, to highlight again that as of today, the Senate's warrant of arrest should be considered as the only valid warrant of arrest in existence today,” he added.
Tolentino also clarified that Guo's dismissal as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac does not exlude her from RA 10660.
"The mere fact of dismissal will not immediately remove the concept of undue influence...ang gusto nating i-prevent dito ay yung influence. Baka maimpluwensiyahan yung husgado. Nadismiss siya, ilang araw lang tapos nafile-an ng kaso nanduon pa yung influence (The mere fact of dismissal will not immediately remove the concept of undue influence...what we want to prevent here is the influence. The judge might be influenced. Guo was dismissed and after a few days cases were filed against her so her influence is still there)," he explained.
"Andun pa yung mga galamay nya, influential pa sya sa Tarlac, kanya lahat mga opisyales, andun pa. Yung dismissal is not a ground for the assumption of jurisdiction of Capas, Tarlac (Her connections are still there, she's still influential in Tarlac, all of the officials are hers. The dismissal is not a ground for assumption of jurisdiction of Capas, Tarlac)," he added.
He said the decision by Vedaña-Delos Santos not only affirms his earlier stand that only the Senate has a valid arrest warrant against Guo but also prevents any "undue influence."
Meanwhile, Tolentino said that Guo would remain under the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center. Eventually, her custody would be up to the presiding judge of Valenzuela.
“Ayoko naman pangunahan yung judge ng Valenzuela, kung sino man yun, ay magre-reissue ng warrant of arrest, at kung saan niya gustong idetine si Alice Guo, kung sa PNP Custodial Center o saan man. Itatama na yung mali (I don't want to preempt the decision of the judge of Valenzuela, whoever he would be, who would reissue a warrant of arrest, and decide where he or she would want to detain Alice Guo if in the PNP Custodial Center or elsewhere. The errors will be rectified)," he said.
"Kasi pag mali sa simula, yung lahat ng errors can be raised for the first time on appeal, kahit sa Supreme Court. So mapapawalang-sala si Alice Guo on the basis of technicality (If it was wrong from the start, all the errors can be raised for the first time on appeal, even in the Supreme Court. Alice Guo would then be acquitted on the basis of technicality)," he added.
"So naitama na natin lahat ito, wala na silang lusot dito, Kahit tahimik yun abogado ni Alice Guo, ay wala na silang lusot dito. Nasa tamang RTC na at hindi ko na ito kukuwestyunin dahil legal na ang lahat (So we corrected all of these, they no way out of this. Even if Alice Guo's lawyers remain silent, they still have no way out of this. It's already with the proper RTC and I will no longer question it because it's all legal)," he further mentioned.