Metro Manila, Philippines – Lawyers of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo maintained that she is still in the Philippines amid claims that she has escaped under the noses of immigration officers.
Legal counsel Stephen David said the legal team is banking on the last word of its client that she has not fled the country. The Justice Department has issued an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) on the mayor.
“We, as her counsel, have always relied on the assurances provided by our client that she is still in the Philippines. Thus, without further evidence to prove that she has indeed left the country, our reliance in good faith on the assurances by our client remains,” David said on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Senator Risa Hontiveros was the first to expose Guo’s exit from the country.
Illegal travel
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Guo’s exit was not logged in their system.
“We received intelligence information from our counterparts abroad that Guo illegally left for Malaysia then flew to Singapore,” Tansingco said in a statement.
He said the former mayor, whose real name is Guo Hua Ping, was allegedly with her siblings Shiela Leal Guo and Wesley Leal Guo in Singapore.
“So far we have not received any turnover or reports related to Guo from other agencies, including those manning our maritime borders,” he added.
Allowed to leave
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) explained that a person listed in the ILBO may still leave the country pending an arrest warrant.
While the Senate released an arrest warrant against Guo, PNP spokesperson PCol. Jean Fajardo said it is different from that issued by court.
“’Pag ang hold-departure order ay in-issue ng korte, ‘yun ay hindi siya pupwedeng lumabas po unlike po ‘yung lookout bulletin, she or he can leave the country po in the absence of a warrant of arrest,” Fajardo said in a briefing.
[Translation: If the court issues a hold-departure order against her, she cannot leave the country unlike a lookout bulletin, she or he can leave the country po in the absence of a warrant of arrest.]
Passport cancelation
Fajardo said an option to force Guo to return to the country is through passport cancellation.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, meanwhile, has issued a memorandum that directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel the passport of Guo and her siblings.
The document was addressed to Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
Citing the New Philippine Passport Act, Bersamin said that the DFA may cancel one’s passport in the interest of national security and when the court issues a cancellation order as the holder is considered a fugitive.
Guo is facing a Senate investigation for her alleged link to an online gaming operator which supposedly committed crimes such as human trafficking and serious illegal detention.
NewsWatch Plus correspondent Eimor Santos contributed to this report.
