Law enforcement to continue even Guo has no deputization power over PNP

Philippine National Police

MANILA, Philippines — Revoking the deputization power of Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will not affect the authority and functions of the town’s local police in enforcing the law, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.

Fajardo’s statement came after Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. instructed the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to revoke Guo’s deputization or her power to “supervise and control police units” — a power granted to elected governors and mayors as stated under the commission’s Memorandum Circular No. 99-010.

“Pag-dating naman po sa authority and the functions po ng PNP, hindi naman po ito ma-a-apektuhan kung sakali pong tuluyan na po ma-wi-withdraw yung deputization po ng mayor ng Bamban, Tarlac,” the PNP official said in a press briefing held on Tuesday.

(The PNP’s authority and functions will not be affected if the withdrawal of her deputization occurs.)

“Very clear naman po sa command line po ng ating PNP na yung ating pong mga municipal police stations is taking orders po sa provincial director, and the provincial director is taking orders on the regional director,” she added.

(The command line of PNP is clear that municipal police stations take orders from the provincial director, and the provincial director follows orders from the regional director.)

READ: DILG chief orders Napolcom to strip Bamban mayor’s power over cops

She also reiterated that mayors and governors only have the power to employ or deploy the chief of police assigned to the area they handle.

In an earlier briefing, Abalos said that Napolcom will revoke the mayor’s deputization if the commission finds sufficient grounds for the withdrawal pending an ongoing investigation into her alleged connection to a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) in Bamban town.

Before this, Abalos announced that the agency recommended the preventive suspension of the mayor before the Office of the Ombudsman “to prevent” her “influence on the continuing investigations” of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other agencies.

Abalos said the seven-man DILG task force created to investigate Guo’s reported ties to Pogo has already submitted its report, which contains “troubling findings of serious illegal acts, which may have severe legal implications.”

Moreover, the Senate is investigating Guo over the possibility that she is a Chinese “asset” trained to infiltrate the Philippine government.

Guo categorically denied that she is a spy but revealed in a statement on Monday evening that she is a household helper’s “love child.”

She also reiterated that she has nothing to do with the Pogo establishment in her town, but she touted its benefits to the town.