📷 Bamban Mayor Alice Guo | exosolar.net
CITING information describing the province from where Alice Guo’s family came from as a hotbed of the Chinese Community Party (CCP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) has officially joined the list of government entities conducting an investigation on the embattled mayor.
In an interview with reporters, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil admitted instructing the Criminal Investigation and Detective Group (CIDG) and the PNP-Intelligence Group to check the veracity of information linking Guo to CCP’s united frontwork.
Marbil particularly cited information circulating on social media platforms establishing connections of the embattled mayor with the CCP. The video apparently claimed that Guo’s family to be part of a large clan that extends across Asia originating from Fujian.
“The CIDG and IG, I tasked them to conduct an investigation regarding the mayor,” Marbil told reporters.
Marbil’s statement comes amid an ongoing Senate investigation over allegations dragging Guo’s name into the illegal operation of POGO hubs located inside a vast complex she owns in Bamban, Tarlac.
Interestingly, Senate President Francis Escudero, who earlier made a pronouncement that the burden of proof is with the accusers, assured that he would not stop the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality from its investigation on the alleged human trafficking and criminal activities attributed to offshore gaming operations, including those allegedly linked to Guo.
Escudero insisted that his pronouncement merely cited a ruling of the Supreme Court that the burden of proof is the duty of the accuser which should be applied to all cases.
“That is exactly what the Supreme Court is saying, that is the existing law and that has nothing to do with the continuation or non-continuation of the hearing anchored on Senator Risa Hontiveros’ resolution.”
During the hearing, Hontiveros said that he is inclined to believe that Guo might be a Chinese spy with a marching order to infiltrate Philippine politics.
Guo, who is not even a native of Bamban town, won as an independent candidate by a slim margin against then incumbent Mayor Joey Salting Jr. during the 2022 general elections.
Her rise to power was attributed mainly to her vast campaign resources and the endorsement of the powerful Iglesia ni Cristo. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
