DoJ junks Guo’s bid to reopen probe

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has junked dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo’s bid to reopen the investigation into the qualified human trafficking case against her and submitted it for resolution on whether the case should go forward in the courts.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, in charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), said the DoJ’s panel of prosecutors had decided the hearings should be terminated and the case be submitted for resolution.

It is now up to the prosecution panel to consider the counter-affidavit filed by Guo.

Ty said the DoJ is also inclined to initiate charges against Guo’s lawyers, including the notary public who notarized her motion long after, as the Bureau of Immigration later found, she had fled the country in July.

Ty said the DoJ will move against the notary public who should be held criminally liable for falsification and face administrative charges before the Supreme Court for failing to abide by the lawyers’ set of obligations.

“But we are not limiting ourselves to the notary public because we feel that Alice Guo’s lawyers, during the preliminary investigation, and her spokesperson should also face administrative charges,” Ty said.