📷Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo
FOLLOWING reports of a supposed offer embarking on a prisoner swap, the Department of Justice (DOJ) hinted at considering the idea, but with conditions – that Indonesia turns over dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo first before the Philippine government transfers the custody of an Australian national sought after by their government.
Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty however clarified that a prisoner exchange may need to go through diplomatic channels including the Department of Foreign Affairs, which would delay Guo’s return to the Philippines.
“Mas maganda sana kung hindi kaliwaan. Kung pwede sana maunang makauwi dito si Alice Guo tapos saka na pag-usapan itong hiling ng Indonesia,” said Ty in his capacity as focal person for the Inter-Agency Against Trafficking (IACAT).
Justice Secretary Boying Remulla earlier confirmed a report that Indonesian authorities sought a prisoner swap – Guo in exchange for Gregor Johann Haas, an Australian national facing drug charges in Indonesia.
Haas, who was arrested in Cebu by local immigration authorities in May, has since been under the Philippine government’s custody.
“Itong hinihinala nating gusto nila ay nasa kustodiya ng BI. Kahapon, naisip namin baka maging hadlang ito. Gusto nilang makuha itong tao na ito. Sa ngayon, wala pang pormal na hiling, so tingnan natin kung ano ang mangyayari,” Ty said.
He said the deportation of prisoners could sometimes take time, like what happened with suspects linked to the “Luffy” Japanese crime ring.
Guo, who is facing charges over links with illegal POGO and Chinese mafia, was collared in Tangerang City in Indonesia this week after months of evading arrest in view of arrest warrants.
As this developed, Indonesian authorities have been looking for dismissed Bamban Mayor’s brother Wesley Guo.
According to Immigration bureau spokesperson Dana Sandoval, their Indonesian counterparts have shown cooperation and are in fact constantly in touch with the BI following Guo’s arrest in Tangerang City early Wednesday morning.
“They pledged na ito ay matapos at maibalik itong si Mayor Alice Guo even ‘yung…kapatid niyang lalaki…si Wesley, ‘yun ay kasama rin sa mga mino-monitor nila at gusto rin nilang maibalik agad,” Sandoval was quoted as saying in a television news program.
However, Remulla remains “unimpressed,” even as he stood firm on his earlier suspicion that “somebody from the Bureau of Immigration” helped hatch the escape plan of Alice Guo and her siblings in July.
By his own admission the DOJ chief said that he and Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco have not been talking since news broke out about Guo’s escape.
“Hindi niya naman ako sinabihan agad. Marahil alam niya nang matagal yan bago ko nalaman. Kaya hindi na kami nag-uusap. Hindi tama yung ganung klase ng asal, na hindi mo ipaalam sa DOJ secretary ang nangyayari sa opisina mo,” he lamented.
He also told reporters that the DOJ is currently collecting evidence to prove his suspicion – that BI has something to do with Guo’s escape. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
