DOJ to seek hold departure order for Guo, 17 others

Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo —Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — After issuing a lookout bulletin for suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and 17 others, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it would apply for a hold departure order next.

“Considering the gravity of the possible charges, as well as the wide media coverage and public attention this has gained over the past months, there is a strong possibility that the abovementioned nationals may place themselves beyond the reach of the legal process of this department by leaving the country,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said in the three-page immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) dated June 21.

READ: More cases set to be filed against Alice Guo – PAOCC

He added that a precautionary hold departure order would also be filed in court, pending the conduct of a preliminary investigation.

Following Remulla’s instructions, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said they have started implementing the lookout bulletin against Guo and her 13 co-respondents, who were charged last week with a qualified human trafficking complaint in connection with the illegal Pogo hub in her municipality.

READ: Bamban Mayor Alice Guo removed as NPC member

Guo’s co-respondents are former government official and pork barrel scam convict Dennis Cunanan, Zhang Ruijin, Baoying Lin, Rachelle Joan Carreon, Huang Zhiyang, Thelma Laranan, Rowena Evangelista, Rita Yturralde, Merlie Joy Castro, Yu Zheng Can, Jaimielyn Cruz, Roderick Paul Pujante and Juan Miguel Alpas.

Persons of interest

Remulla also identified four additional persons of interest as subjects of the lookout, including a certain Zhang Jie, who was intercepted by immigration authorities on June 23. The others were Katherine Ong, Wesley Guo and Julian Linsangan.

An ILBO requires immigration officers to check if the individuals named have any pending arrest warrants, violations, or infractions and to track their movements and locations if they try to leave the country. But if there is no hold departure order or arrest warrant against them, and if they have not violated any immigration law, they may be allowed to fly out.

Over the weekend, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said it intercepted 30-year-old Zhang, who attempted to board a flight to China at Davao International Airport.

Dana Sandoval, spokesperson for the BI, said that Zhang was taken into custody and moved to the BI Warden’s Facility after she presented a 9(g) commercial employment visa but declared she was unemployed.

“It’s already a violation because if you’re not working for a certain company or you cut ties with a company that you used to be working for, the visa should have been surrendered, you downgrade and change your status,” Sandoval told reporters.