Mayor Alice Guo was placed under preventive suspension without pay pending the resolution of an investigation. - SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES
MANILA: The mayor of Tarlac’s Bamban town, a small town in the Philippines, has been ordered suspended as mayor by the Office of the Ombudsman.
In an order dated May 31, Ombudsman Samuel Martires said there are “sufficient grounds to preventively suspend” Alice Guo, and two other town officials “considering: that there is strong evidence showing their guilt”.
Mayor Guo, Municipal Business Permits and Licensing Office officer Edwin Ocampo, and Municipal Legal Officer Adenn Sigua were placed under preventive suspension without pay pending the resolution of an investigation against them. But their suspension must not exceed six months, according to the Ombudsman.
Copies of the order, which granted the plea of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to suspend Ms Guo and other municipal officials, were released to the media on Monday, June 3.
“[...] This Office finds sufficient grounds to preventively suspend Alice Leal Guo, Edwin Ocampo, and Adenn Sigua considering: that there is strong evidence showing their guilt [...] that their continued stay in office may prejudice the investigation of the case filed against them,” the order states.
“Whereas, complainant’s Prayer for Preventive Suspension is hereby granted but only in so far as Alice Leal Guo, Edwin Ocampo, and Adenn Sigua are concerned. They are hereby preventively suspended, without pay, during the period of investigation until its termination, but not to exceed six months,” it also states.
Last week, the DILG filed charges of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against Guo, Ocampo, and Sigua for allegedly allowing illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos) to do business in Bamban.
Undersecretary Juan Victor Llamas represented the DILG in the case before the Office of the Ombudsman.
On May 18, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. announced that the DILG recommended to the Office of the Ombudsman, the preventive suspension of the mayor so she could not influence the investigation launched against her.
Abalos said the seven-man DILG task force investigating Guo’s reported link to a Pogo has already submitted their report, containing “troubling findings of serious illegal acts [that] may have severe legal implications”.
According to the Ombudsman’s order, the DILG alleged that Guo did not cancel or revoke the business permits issued to the Pogo “because of her business interest in Baofu” even if the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) revoked Zun Yuan Technology’s franchise as Pogo.
Baofu refers to Baofu Land Development Inc., the compound in Bamban, Tarlac, where the Pogo is doing business. Guo is purportedly the president of Baofu, which purchased eight parcels of land in Bamban in February 2019.
Guo claims to have divested ownership of Baofu, but DILG believes the amount she divested it for — P2.5 million (US$42,554) — was “grossly incongruent to her investment on Baufo which is approximately eight hectares of land”.
Guo also gave Baufo a business permit on Oct 25, 2022, despite Pagcor’s cancellation of Zun Yuan’s, or its predecessor Hongsheng’s, license to operate on October 6, 2022, according to the Ombudsman’s order.
A Senate panel has also been probing into Guo’s supposed ties with Pogo, as well as her identity over the possibility that she is a purported Chinese “asset” or spy trained to infiltrate the Philippine government.
Guo has repeatedly denied the accusations against her. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
