The Bureau of Immigration (BI) should have custody of ousted Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) head.
“Actually kung mayroon talagang dapat magde-detain kay (if anyone is to detain) Alice Guo, it should be the Bureau of Immigration kasi (because) an immigration case takes precedence over everything,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla explained in a press briefing on Wednesday, to which he added that such a case is non-bailable.
He said it was “commonsensical” to take note of her influence in an area within which she had previously held jurisdiction as mayor, where she is now to be detained.
The Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 109 issued an arrest warrant for breaching Section 3(e) and (h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).
“May discomfort kaagad ako sa simula palang tungkol dito sa bagay na ito (I have had discomfort about this matter from the start),” Remulla disclosed.
Asserting that Guo’s case was an immigration matter first and foremost, he brought up her falsified passport, pointing out that she had endeavored to “pass herself off as Filipino”—a “major violation” of Philippine law.
He urged that when matters have cleared, Guo must be placed under the custody of the BI.
“Kasi dapat huwag natin pabayaan na palabuin nila yung tubig. Malinaw na malinaw ‘yan, may immigration case tayong hinahawakan dito. that's very, very important,” the secretary emphasized. “May primacy ang immigration case over all others when it comes to Alice Guo.”
(We shouldn’t let them muddy the waters. It’s very, very clear, that we have an immigration case in our hands. That’s very, very important. The immigration case holds primacy over all others when it comes to Alice Guo.)
