Arrest warrants for Guo et al. issued — DoJ

Justice Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Atty. Mico Clavano yesterday confirmed a Pasig court had issued arrest warrants for Alice Guo and 15 others.

“We confirm,” was Clavano’s short reply when asked about the court action.

“After examining the five information, the resolution, and all the documents presented during the preliminary investigation, the court finds probable cause to hold accused Alice Leal Guo aka Guo Hua Ping, Walter Wong Long, Dennis Cunanan, Huang Zhiyang, Rachelle Carreon, Zhang Ruijin, Baoying Lin, Yu Zheng Can, Jamielyn Cruz, Roderick Pujante, Juan Miguel Alpas, Merlie Joy Castro, Rita Yturralde, Rowena Evangelista, Thelma Laranan, and Maybelline Millo aka Shana Yiyi for trial for the crimes charged against them,” said Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 Presiding Judge Annielyn Medes-Cabelis.

The court in the four-page order directed the Philippine National Police to transfer Guo, who was detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, to the Pasig City Jail female dormitory in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.

The court scheduled the arraignment and pre-trial of Guo and Walter Wong Long on 27 September at 8:30 a.m. via videoconferencing.

None of the accused are entitled to post bail as the charge of qualified human trafficking against them is a non-bailable offense.

Guo files bail, hearing reset

Meanwhile, the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court on Friday afternoon postponed the hearing of Guo’s graft case, rescheduling it for next week following a motion to quash filed by Guo’s camp.

The arraignment is set for 30 September.

Judge Elena Amano of Valenzuela RTC Branch 282 sought a position paper from Guo’s camp and the prosecution regarding the motion.

Guo’s lawyer, Atty. Stephen David, said in an interview his client was hoping to file a bail. He said they will enter a not-guilty plea to the graft allegations.

According to sources, the court recommended P540,000 bail for Guo for the two counts of graft.

The graft case arose from a lawsuit filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) last June which challenged Guo’s issuance of a permit to Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. despite the latter’s lack of the necessary documentation.

Ong gets 30 days

In another development, Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of Lucky South 99 Corp., will be detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City for 30 days following a second contempt order by the House quad committee.

The detention order follows Ong’s repeatedly giving false testimony about her educational background.

Ong said that she studied under an Alternative Learning System (ALS) sometime in 2016 or 2017 after lawmakers pressed her to explain a photo of her wearing a graduation gown.

She, however, said she could not remember the name of the public school where she enrolled for the ALS.

Abang Lingkod Partylist Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, a co-chair of the quad committee, started to get irked with the inconsistencies in Ong’s responses.

“Even if you ask anyone here they know where they went to elementary school, where they went to high school,” Paduano said in Filipino.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, the panel’s vice chair, joined Paduano in pressing Ong.

“I’m old already but I still know where I graduated from elementary school. Then you, you’re still young, you don’t know where you graduated from?” Acop said.

“Is it possible that you don’t know which school you were enrolled in for the ALS? Or maybe you didn’t go to ALS. Maybe you studied in another country,” Paduano said.

Visibly fuming, Paduano subsequently moved to cite Ong in contempt—for the second time—which panel chair Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers approved.

Acop, meanwhile, moved that Ong be detained at the CIW—a similar motion made during the previous hearing which the panel later withdrew.

Ong has been detained on the House premises since her return from Indonesia. She was arrested there on 22 August with Sheila Guo, the alleged sister of Alice Guo.

Ong will be transferred to the CIW after she finishes serving her 30-day contempt penalty on 26 September.

Ong’s first contempt order followed her repeated refusal to attend the legislative inquiry into the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO)-related crimes despite the congressional subpoenas.

The House quad committee had deemed Ong material to the inquiry being the representative of Lucky South, an illegal POGO firm in Porac, Pampanga, raided earlier this year over allegations of unlawful activities, such as torture and a scam farm.

Ong is also an incorporator of Whirlwind Corporation, a firm that leased the land in Porac for Lucky South 99, owning at least a 58-percent stake.