MANILA – Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo was a no-show again on Monday at the Department of Justice (DOJ) preliminary hearing on the human trafficking charges filed against her and other co-respondents.
Guo and other co-respondents also failed to appear on July 4 in the first preliminary investigation being conducted by a DOJ panel of prosecutors, according to Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty.
Ty said Guo and her fellow accused including Dennis Cunanan, however, were represented by lawyers.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed the complaint against Guo for their alleged role in the illegal operations of the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
Guo and co-respondents, however, were given an extension until Aug. 6 to submit their counter-affidavits after the PAOCC and CIDG filed a supplemental complaint to include a Filipino respondent.
“Non-extendible. Sabi din sa akin ng mga complainants, ng team ng law enforcement na after this, malamang hindi na sila mag-re-reply (sa) affidavit (Aug. 6 is non-extendible. The complainants, the law enforcement told me that after this, most likely they will not reply to (the) affidavit),” Ty said.
PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said the additional respondent is involved in the management of Zun Yuan Technology, Hongsheng and Baofu Land Development.
In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. imposed a ban on POGOs in the country beginning next year.
President Marcos made the decision amid snowballing calls to stop POGO operations as these have already “ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming, such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder.”
“The grave abuse and disrespect of our system must stop,” he said. (PNA)
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