A non-bailable qualified human trafficking case will be filed in court against dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice L. Guo and several other persons.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty said the case will be filed next week before the regional trial court (RTC) in Capas, Tarlac.
Ty said the resolution that authorized the filing of the case was arrived at after preliminary investigation conduct by a panel of prosecutors.
Guo and several co-respondents in the complaint did not attend the preliminary investigation. Later, Guo filed a counter-affidavit what was notarized last Aug. 14 in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.
Prosecutors doubted the authenticity of the counter-affidavit since Guo was found to have left the country last July. She was arrested in Indonesia and was repatriated to the Philippines last Sept. 6.
“Lumalabas dito na may prima facie evidence or reasonable certainty of conviction laban kay mayor Alice Guo at sa ibang respondents na makakasuhan natin ng qualified human trafficking sa mga korte (This shows that there is prima facie evidence or reasonable certainty of conviction against mayor Alice Guo and other respondents who will be charged with qualified human trafficking before the courts),” Ty said.
Ty, the DOJ undersecretary-in-charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), said: “Ipafile namin next week sa korte ang information na ‘to (we will file this case in court next week).”
The complaint against Guo and several other persons was filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) last June 21. Guo's group was accused of violations of Republic Act (RA) 9208, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
The complaint involved the alleged illegal activities committed by Zun Yun Technology Center, a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO), that got raided by authorities in Bamban.
Prior the filing of the complaint by the PNP-CIDG and PAOCC, Ty said there were already charges filed in court against several persons who have been accused of qualified human trafficking.
“May tumatakbo ng kaso ngayon sa Capas, Tarlac (There is already a case running in Capas, Tarlac),” said Ty who noted that the case against Guo is an offshoot of the pending case in Capas..
“Nakahiling na kami sa Korte Suprema ng change of venue sa kasong ito na tumatakbo na at hinihintay na lang namin ang responde ng Korte Suprema (We already asked the Supreme Court for a change of venue on this case and we are just waiting for the response of the Supreme Court),” he said.
Ty stressed “mas mabuti na talaga na nandito s’ya sa Manila para wala ng duda (it would be better that the case be transferred in Metro Manila so that there would be no doubts in its handling).”
He said that among those to be charged in court are are former Technology Resource Center (TRC) head Dennis L. Cunanan and Guo's alleged business partners, namely, Huang Zhiyang, Zhang Ruijin, and Baoying Li.
“‘Di muna namin sasabihin lahat dahil may flight risk ‘pag nalaman nila na kasama sila sa mga nakasuhan at hindi pa sila sa kasama sa ILBO na inisyu ni Sec. Remulla sa BI (We will not reveal all of the persons who will be charged due to flight risks once they find out they will get indicted and they are not yet in the immigration lookout bulletin order that Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla issued to the Bureau of Immigration),” he explained.
Ty refuted the claims of Guo's lawyers that there is no evidence against the dismissed mayor for qualified trafficking in persons.
He reminded that amendments in the law that states that “kung maipakita na ikaw ang nag-organize ng isang negosyo na madaming ganap na human trafficking maaari kang kasuhan at ‘yun ang nangyari kay mayor Alice Guo at sa madaming kapwa respondent n’ya (if you have been found to have organized a business engaged in human trafficking you can be charged and this is what happened to mayor Alice Guo and many of her co-respondents).”