A Senate panel has sought the filing of criminal charges against the public officials who enabled dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping, to escape the country and provided her and her accomplices protection.

The recommendation is included in Committee Report No. 514 prepared by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality following its investigation into the human trafficking activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hubs. 

“Hindi mamamayagpag ang mga POGO o si Guo Hua Ping kung wala silang mga protektor sa gubyerno (Neither POGOs nor Guo Hua Ping could flourish if they did not have government protectors). There must be further investigation on the ties of POGO scam hubs to government officials. Kailangan ma-identify at mapanagot sila (They should be identified and held accountable),” Hontiveros said. 

The committee report directs the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to immediately report to the Senate the reforms implemented in order to address not just the escape of Guo Hua Ping, but the reported involvement of BI personnel in the inbound trafficking of POGO workers and the outbound trafficking of Filipinos to work in scam compounds abroad.

“Napakatagal na na problema sa BI ang human trafficking pero hindi parin nasusugpo. Lumala pa nung pumasok ang mga POGO. Dapat totoong matugunan na nila ito (Human trafficking has been a problem in BI for a long time but it has not been stopped yet. It got worse when the POGOs came in. They should really address this),” Hontiveros said.

At the same time, the panel also sought higher penalties against public officials complicit in the falsification of civil registry and other identification documents.

The panel also sought to penalize the officials within the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who helped forge the documents of illegal POGOs.

“They should get more than a slap on the wrist. Ang dami nilang pinahamak (They destroyed many people),” she pointed out.

The panel report also included Sual Mayor Criseldo Calugay due to revelations that his own staff helped facilitate the notarization of Guo Hua Ping’s affidavit even in her absence.

“Perhaps, we are not strongly addressing one of the main roots of the problem: corrupted public officials. They should be punished to the highest degree,” she said.

“Kung hahayaan nating ang sindikato ay nakapalibot na sa loob ng gubyerno, kawawa nanaman ang Pilipino (If we allow the syndicate to be around inside the government, the Filipinos will be miserable),” Hontiveros said.