Ombudsman rejects appeal against suspension of Mayor Alice Guo

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman has rejected the request of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and two other local government officials to lift their precautionary suspension.

The Ombudsman imposed a precautionary suspension on May 31 against Guo and other individuals allegedly linked to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in the region.

“It must be emphasized that a preventive suspension is not a punishment but merely a ‘preventive measure, a preparatory step in an administrative investigation; its purpose is to prevent the accused from abusing his position and the powers and privileges of his office to influence potential witnesses or tamper with records that may be crucial to the prosecution against him,'” the Ombudsman’s order said.

In addition to Guo, other interviewees include local officials Edwin Ocampo and Adenn Sigua.

The precautionary suspension was ordered after the Department of Interior (DILG) on May 24 raised corruption charges against the mayor for issuing permits to Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc.

According to the DILG complaint, Guo and the officials allowed the issuance of a permit to Hongsheng even though the company did not meet the required requirements.

The complaint also noted that POGO’s license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. had expired, but Guo revoked the business permit.

On June 21, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission filed human trafficking charges with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Guo and 13 others for their involvement in the operation of a POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac, which was raided in March.

ILBO order implemented

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced Tuesday morning that it had implemented the DOJ’s Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against Guo and other local officials involved in the POGO fiasco.

According to the ILBO order, a precautionary departure order will also be issued against the persons.

An ILBO is issued by the DOJ to direct immigration officers to thoroughly investigate whether there are outstanding arrest warrants, violations, or misdemeanors against specific individuals.

It also serves to monitor their travel plans and locations should they attempt to leave the country.

The agency also said it had intercepted a person listed in the ILBO attempting to leave the country.

Zhang Jie, 30, attempted to travel to Jinjiang, China, via Davao International Airport (DIA) on June 23.

This prompted officials to conduct second inspections and reviews at the Department of Justice.

After confirming instructions from Justice Ministry officials at the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Zhang was denied boarding.

She was taken into custody and taken to the BI Director’s facility while awaiting a decision on the deportation case against her.