MANILA, Philippines — The “irregular” developments surrounding suspected human trafficker Alice Guo led Sen. Risa Hontiveros to wonder whether the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) had intentionally filed a “watered down” case against the dismissed Bamban mayor to gain custody of her.
Hontiveros, in a statement on Friday, insisted that it should be the Sandiganbayan holding graft and corruption charges against high-ranking officials like Guo.
“Napaka-iregular ng mga nangyari (What happened was very irregular). We will get to the bottom of who is orchestrating all this circus and wild goose chase,” said Hontiveros.
“Did the DILG file a deliberately watered-down case to wrest custody of the fugitive? Bakit (Why)?” she asked.
Contrary to what was presumed, Guo was taken into custody by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and not the Senate.
This, after Guo’s camp opted not to post bail in relation to the arrest order issued against her by Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 109 for her alleged violation of Section 3 (e) and (h) of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
According to Hontiveros, she had sent a letter to RTC Branch 109 and the PNP custodial center asking Guo to appear before the upper chamber’s hearing scheduled on Monday, September 9.
Hontiveros and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier vowed to do everything in their power to extract the truth about Guo’s Philippine offshore gaming operator links as well as uncover all officials who supposedly helped her escape the country’s jurisdiction despite an existing arrest order and lookout bulletin.
READ: Tarlac court issues warrant of arrest vs Alice Guo
“Sa totoo lang, dapat naiturn-over na siya sa Senado pagkatapos maproseso ng NBI o PNP. Iyan ang pinag-usapan at iyan ang tamang proseso dahil sa Senado galing ang orihinal na arrest warrant laban kay Alice Guo,” Hontiveros emphasized.
(To be honest, she should have been turned over to the Senate after being processed by the NBI or PNP. That was what was agreed upon and that is the proper process since the original arrest warrant against Alice Guo came from the Senate.)