PAOCC: Mayor Guo must identify higher-ups to qualify as state witness
MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Saturday that suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo would only be considered as a state witness if she names higher-ranking individuals involved in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs. During the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio explained that any consideration for Guo as a state witness would depend on her ability to implicate individuals "higher" in the hierarchy of alleged criminal activities. "Any state witness for that matter will have to be the least guilty in the entire conspiratorial chain in the commission of a crime," Casio said. “We wouldn’t be open to that discussion until and unless we get higher on the food chain in relation to the crime that this group has committed,” he added. Guo, according to Casio, is not viewed as the least guilty party based on the evidence gathered. Under Republic Act 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, any person who has knowledge of or information on the commission of a crime and has testified or is testifying or is willing to testify can be admitted to the Witness Protection Program. Last Friday, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has petitioned for the cancellation of Guo's certificate of live birth. According to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, the cancellation of the birth certificate can be a basis for filing a quo warranto petition to remove Guo from her post as mayor. Guo's identity has come under scrutiny due to her suspected connections to raided POGOs Hong Sheng in Bamban and Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga. On June 27, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) disclosed that the fingerprints of the suspended mayor matched those of a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping. NBI records also revealed two individuals named Alice Leal Guo who share the same name, birthday and birthplace. The Office of Ombudsman imposed preventive suspension on May 31 for Guo and others allegedly linked to the illegal POGO in her municipality.
