The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) pledged to push for the imprisonment of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her cohorts in the Philippines despite the difficulties in bringing them to justice.
PAOCC spokesperson Dr. Winston Casio stated that once captured, Guo and her cohorts should be imprisoned in the country.
Casio said that there is a risk that Guo and her accomplices might avoid being jailed if their travel documents and citizenships are revoked. Nevertheless, the PAOCC is steadfast in its commitment to incarcerate these fugitives and hold them accountable for their crimes against the Filipino people.
Casio explained that canceling the passports and revoking the nationalities of Guo and the others could potentially afford them protection under international law.
He noted that if their passports were canceled, they will become stateless individuals and will fall under the United Nations Commission for Refugees framework.
“They would become refugees, and they would fall under the framework of the United Nations Commission for Refugees because they would take on a different legal character, and they would be protected by that legal character,” said Casio during a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday.
“As far as the Commission is concerned, and as far as our team with IACAT [Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking] is concerned, we would want them to be incarcerated in the Philippines to answer for all their crimes in the country,” he added.
Several government agencies reported that Alice Guo fled the country in mid-July and traveled to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Furthermore, intelligence reports indicated that Guo, along with her sister Sheila Guo and Cassandra Ong, entered Indonesia via a cruise ship from Singapore.
Senator Risa Hontiveros initially revealed during a Senate session on August 19 that Guo has already left the country and traveled to Malaysia since July 18.
On August 20, Indonesian authorities apprehended Sheila Guo and Cassandra Ong at Mega Mall Batam Centre. The next day, a team from the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration retrieved them, and they returned to the country on August 22.
The two have already undergone inquest proceedings, and several charges have been filed against them, including violations of the Philippine Passport Act, obstruction of justice, and harboring a fugitive.
Guo’s sibling and Ong are set to appear before the Senate Committee on Justice for a scheduled hearing on August 27.
Alice Guo and her cohorts managed to leave the country without a trace despite the existence of the immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO).
