Guo asks Ombudsman to lift suspension
THE lawyer of Bamban, Tarlac, Mayor Alice Guo on Thursday filed a motion before the Office of the Ombudsman (Ombudsman) to lift the preventive suspension order it had issued against her.
The Ombudsman had ordered Guo preventively suspended while it investigates the administrative complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In a nine-page order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on May 31, the Ombudsman suspended Guo and two others for six months.
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN«We filed a motion for reconsideration with a… request to lift her suspension. Six months is too long for a case which we believe has no strong evidence,» lawyer Stephen David told reporters on Thursday after the motion was filed.
The DILG has formed a task force to find out if local officials were liable for allowing an illegal offshore gaming operation in Bamban.
On March 13, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission raided the compound of Baufo Land Development Inc. in the town.
AdvertisementA month earlier, the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group raided Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., an offshore gaming operator in the same compound.
As stated in the Ombudsman's order, the DILG-created task force found that Guo had bought eight parcels of land in Anupul village in Bamban and that transfer certificates of titles were «issued in the name of Baofu.»
The DILG alleged «that Guo's divestment of shares in Baufo through a Deed of Assignment is simulated because the consideration of [P2.5 million] is grossly incongruent to her investment in Baufo, which is approximately eight hectares of land.»
The DILG reported
