The Pasig City Regional Trial Court ordered the transfer of former Bamban mayor Alice Guo from the Philippine National Police custodial facility in Camp Crame to the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory due to her non-bailable qualified trafficking case in connection with the operation of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
The court issued the transfer through a four-page order from Presiding Judge Annielyn Medes-Cabelis on Friday, September 20, which also directed the transfer of Guo’s co-accused Walter Wong Long from the Tarlac Provincial Jail to the Pasig City Jail Male Dormitory.
“After examining the five (5) Informations, the resolution, and all the documents presented during the Preliminary Investigation, the Court finds probable cause to hold accused Alice Leal Guo….for trial for the crime/s charged against them,” Cabelis wrote in the order.
“All the accused in these cases are not entitled to post bail as the charges against them are all non-bailable,” Cabelis added.
Guo and others were charged under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended by the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Acts of 2012 and 2022.
Among Guo’s co-accused were Huang Zhiyang, labeled by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission as the “boss of all bosses” in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), and Zhang Ruijin.
Meanwhile, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued arrest warrants for other accused who are still at-large, namely Huang Zhiyang, Rachelle Joan Malonzo Carreon, Zhang Ruijin, Baoying Lin, Yu Zheng Can, Dennis Cunanan, Jamielyn Cruz, Roderick Pujante, Juan Miguel Alpas, Merlie Joy Castro, Rita Yturralde, Rowena Evangelista, Thelma Laranan and Maybelline Millo aka Shana Yiyi.
The court stated that it found probable cause to proceed with the trial for all the accused regarding the crimes charged against them.
Guo is also facing a graft case in a Valenzuela court and a money laundering complaint with the Department of Justice.
She is under investigation by both the Senate and the House of Representatives for her alleged connections to the raided POGO hub in Bamban, as well as questions surrounding her citizenship. (TCSP)
