Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed on Friday that arrest warrants or commitment orders have already been issued against disgraced ex-mayor Alice Guo and 15 other co-accused on qualified trafficking charges.
“The arrest warrants issued by the Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 merely confirmed the findings of our prosecutors of the alleged involvement of Guo and others in the qualified trafficking case,” said Remulla.
He added, “the law must take its course, it is time for Guo and co-accused to face the charges against them in Court.”
He stressed that “the detention of Alice Guo and Walter Wong Long, as well as the pending arrest orders against their cohorts is testament that the wheels of justice are efficiently rolling towards the right direction.”
Remulla urges other co-accused to immediately surrender without hesitation or asking for any condition because “the law will definitely catch up with you.”
In a four-page order dated September 19, the Court has found probable cause against Guo and her co-accused for the said charge.
The Pasig court also directed Guo’s transfer from the NCR CIDG Custodial Facility in Camp Crame to the Pasig City Jail Female Dormitory.
However, she must first undergo initial arraignment at the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court (RTC) before being moved to the Pasig facility, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Colonel Jean Fajardo.
Tarlac RTC Branch 109 issued a warrant of arrest against the dismissed Bamban mayor on September 5 for allegedly violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, but the case was transferred to a Valenzuela RTC.
Aside from Guo, Malaysian national Walter Wong Long, who was recently nabbed in an illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac was also ordered transferred to the Pasig City Jail from the Tarlac Provincial Jail
The Court Order clarified that these cases are not entitled to post bail as the charges against them are all non-bailable.
As this developed, the House Quad Committee on Thursday night ordered the 30-day detention of Katherine Cassandra Li Ong at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City after citing her for contempt for the second time, this time for “lying” during the ongoing investigation into illegal POGOs.
Currently detained at the House of Representatives, Ong will be transferred to the CIW after her initial 30-day contempt penalty for snubbing hearings ends on September 26.
CIW is the country’s sole penal facility exclusively for women offenders and typically houses those whose convictions are final.
Ong, who has been linked to a POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga that was raided by authorities for various illegal activities, was cited for contempt again after being accused of giving false testimony about her educational background.
