OSG tightens up Guo quo warranto case

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) is tightening up its case in filing a quo warranto petition against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.

According to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, they have to build a strong case against the embattled local chief executive to ensure they’d win.

He said the quo warranto petition is currently being drafted to incorporate the latest pieces of evidence, adding they would file the petition before the end of the month.

A quo warranto petition questions the authority of a public official to hold a government position.

Guo faces accusations of involvement in the illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in her town and questions about her true citizenship.

The Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission have filed a non-bailable charge of qualified human trafficking against Guo and several others with the Department of Justice.

Presently, there’s a snowballing clamor for the government to ban POGOs over their link to criminal activities like kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, prostitution and scams.

The suspended mayor, along with former Technology and Resource Center Director General Dennis Cunanan and several others, has been placed under an immigration lookout bulletin order.

Guo was also ordered arrested by the Senate Committee on Women and Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality for failing to attend two successive hearings.

She filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Senate committee, headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, from compelling her to attend as a “resource person.” She also petitioned the court to also annul the Subpoena Ad Testificandum issued by the Senate Committee.

To recall, the SC has required the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality to respond to Guo’s petition to annul the subpoena issued against her.

A number of lawmakers have floated the theory that Guo may be a spy for China over questioned documents she had submitted to prove she’s a Filipino citizen. She claimed to have grown in a farm and that she had been home-schooled.