DILG calls for suspension of Guo for “illegal actions”

Bamban Mayor Alice Guo – official Facebook page of Senator Risa Hontiveros

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has recommended to the Ombudsman the preventive suspension of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo “due to disturbing findings of unlawful actions.”

In a statement on Saturday, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said the DILG set up a task force on April 5 to investigate Guo’s alleged connection to illegal activities of a Filipino offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in her city.

He said the seven-member task force led by lawyer Benjamin Zabala of the DILG’s Internal Audit Service submitted its report to the ombudsman on Friday.

READ: Guo lets her photos (with Marcos) do the talking

Pogo approval

Abalos said the preventive suspension of Guo was aimed at preventing “any influence” from her on the ongoing investigations by the DILG and other agencies.

“Based on the report, there are worrying findings of serious illegal actions that may have serious legal consequences,” he added.

Abalos did not elaborate on these illegal actions in his statement.

Lord Villanueva, the DILG undersecretary for operations, told the Inquirer in a telephone interview that the findings included Guo’s questionable granting of a mayoral permit to the Pogo company and her ownership of 50 percent of Baofu Land Development Inc., which owns his property the company leased to Pogo operator Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc.

Business relationships

“Those are the two main issues we found,” Villanueva said. “She is responsible for issuing business licenses. One of the tasks involved in issuing a business license is carrying out inspections, right? You should know what type of business you have in the city. So there are certain obligations.”

According to him, the DILG working group also investigated Guo’s admission that she owned 50 percent of Baofu.

“It’s like she’s giving permission to her own company, so there’s a lot of conflict of interest there,” he said. Villanueva said he could not provide further details “out of respect for the ombudsman.”

“There is more to it, we have also seen documents and papers related to this, but we will leave these details to the Ombudsman to make the final decision on this,” he said.

Disciplinary authority

“Rest assured, we know that the Ombudsman is taking the matter very seriously and I am sure he will take the appropriate action,” Villanueva added.

In a Viber message to the Inquirer, Juan Victor Llamas, the interior minister for foreign, legal and legislative affairs, echoed Villanueva’s comments.

Ombudsman Samuel Martirez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Abalos said in his statement that the DILG “does not have the authority to directly suspend or fire local officials.”

“Therefore, the DILG defers to the Ombudsman any sanctions that may be imposed on Guo in accordance with its disciplinary authority over local government election officials under Section 21 of Republic Act No. 6770,” he said, referring to the Ombudsman Law of 1989 .

Under this law, the Office of the Ombudsman has “disciplinary authority over all elected and appointed officials of the government” and its agencies, cabinet members, local officials, and government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries. Officials worthy of impeachment are not covered.

The DILG, Abalos said, will work with the Ombudsman and other investigative agencies “on this important issue, united in our shared mission to protect our local institutions and promote the public interest.”

SolGen probe

The Office of the Attorney General (OSG) had previously launched an investigation to determine whether Guo has the right to hold public office, raising questions about her citizenship and other qualifications.

Attorney General Menardo Guevarra said the OSG working group will examine “whether there are good reasons to believe that the person is unlawfully holding or exercising public office.”

President Marcos told reporters on May 16 that Guo “should really be investigated.”

Investigation led by Risa

“I know all the politicians in Tarlac, but no one knows her. We wonder where she comes from. How did that happen? We don’t know,” the president said.

Shortly after, Guo posted a picture of her and the president standing side by side on her social media accounts.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, who launched an investigation into Pogo operations, had said Guo could be a Chinese “activist” trained to infiltrate and influence the government, citing her unclear background.

At a recent hearing, Hontiveros noted that Guo’s birth was only registered in 2013, 17 years after her alleged birth in 1986.

She said Chinese nationals who supposedly obtained authentic Philippine passports and other legitimate government documents were late in submitting registered birth certificates.

“Is Guo, like everyone else with a mysterious past, an asset that China sent into our government to influence Philippine politics?” Hontiveros asked.

Guo was invited to a Senate investigation after authorities searched the 7.9-hectare Baofu property in the city of Bamban on March 13 after a Vietnamese worker escaped from a Pogo company that owned one of the buildings there had rented.

The Pogo Hub is suspected of spying and hacking government websites.