Senate President Francis Escudero (PNA photo by Joyce Rocamora)
MANILA – Suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo is in no place to tell lawmakers what issues to prioritize after she suggested that Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian focus their efforts on other issues, Senate President Francis Escudero said.
Guo, who has been issued a Senate arrest warrant, issued a statement Thursday, saying Hontiveros, Gatchalian, and other offices seemed “fixated” on her case.
She told the senators that instead of “threatening her with arrest and accusing” her of complicity in Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGO) crimes, they should focus their attention on “many critical issues such as national security, poverty, unemployment, food shortage, health care delivery, environmental degradation, and human rights violations.”
“Karapatan niya (na sabihin) iyon pero para sa akin wala siya sa lugar pagsabihan sinumang miyembro ng Senado kung ano ang prayoridad sa isip nila at ano ang dapat nilang hindi maging prayoridad (She has the right to say that but for me she is in no position to tell any member of the Senate what issues they should and shouldn't prioritize),” Escudero said in a press conference Friday.
He said Guo is entitled to defend herself amid the allegations against her but said the Senate is equally obligated to protect the interest of the Filipinos by conducting public hearings.
“Hindi ma-ikakaila na siya kung tingin niya may obligasyon siya na pangalagaan at protektahan ang sarili niya. Kami rin meron kaming obligasyon at trabaho na pangalagaan at protektahan ang interes ng sambayanan (If she has the obligation to protect herself, we also are obligated to work and protect the interest of the people),” he said.
He said Guo, who has twice snubbed the Senate inquiries into illegal POGOs, is likewise in no position to choose what forum she will attend.
Guo said her top priority now is her “health and peace of mind” and that she is ready to face Hontiveros and Gatchalian “in a fair trial and at a proper forum”.
“Unawain at intindihin niya na wala siya sa lugar na mamili kung ano ang pupuntahan at hindi pupuntahan base sa kanyang personal na ideya (She should understand that she is in no position to select what forum she would attend),” Escudero said.
“Kung nag-issue ng warrant ang Senado, dumaan ‘yan sa proseso, may pinagdaanang mga rason din ‘yan bago na-issue (If a warrant has been issued by the Senate that means it went through a process),” he said.
Guo is being linked to the operations of a POGO hub in the Tarlac town which was recently raided by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for violation of human trafficking laws and serious illegal detention.
The Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality cited in contempt and ordered an arrest warrant against Guo and seven others for refusing to attend the hearing into the POGOs.
Escudero said he has ordered the Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to coordinate with law enforcement agencies to help track the mayor, Sheila Leal Guo, Wesley Leal Guo, Jian Zhong Guo, Seimen Guo, the mayor's suspected mother Wen Yi Lin and Dennis Cunanan.
Escudero reminded Guo that the Senate warrant is to ensure that she attends the next Senate inquiry, not to jail or punish her.
“May prinsipyo sa batas na (There is a legal principle that says) flight is evidence of guilt,” he said.
“Ang kawalan ng kagustuhang sumuko at boluntaryong magpakita at sumagot sa mga simpleng katanungan, bagaman hindi siya pinupwersang umamin, ay pagpapakita na marahil ay may tinatago siya, may iniiwasan siya at merong mga katanungan na ayaw sagutin (The lack of interest to voluntarily appear and answer questions, although she is not being forced to answer, shows that she might be hiding something),” he added. (PNA)
