Senate orders arrest of Guo

(UPDATES) THE Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, during the resumption of its probe into the alleged illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) on Wednesday, ordered the arrest of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, and seven others for repeatedly snubbing the inquiry.

Among the crimes associated with POGOs include human trafficking, torture and online scams.

Also cited for contempt were the mayor's father Jian Zhong Guo; her mother Wenyi Lin; her siblings Seimen Leal Guo, Shiela Guo and Wesley Leal Guo; POGO incorporator Nancy Gamo; Dennis Cunanan; and former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center deputy director general.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the committee, issued the ruling upon the separate motions of Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

Guo, in a letter to the senator, said that she was unfit physically and mentally to attend the hearing, adding no doctor wanted to see her for fear of being criticized by the public.

Estrada said the Senate's doctor should check on Guo to verify her claim.

«I think this letter of explanation is totally unacceptable. Therefore, I would like to move that we issue a warrant of arrest against Mayor Guo for her to attend the next hearing, if there is one,» Estrada said.

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Gatchalian, during the hearing, presented Guo's alien registration certificate, school records, and birth certificate from China.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it was trying to locate the other Alice Guo, who shared the same birthday and same birthplace as the suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor.

The NBI said the «other» Alice Guo applied for NBI clearance on Nov. 3, 2005, while her namesake mayor sought a similar document on March 28, 2006.

Edgardo Kawada, an operative from NBI Organization and Transnational Crime Division, said a team was dispatched on May 26 to verify «the Alice Guo, who applied for NBI clearance,» residing in Kalantiaw Street in Project 4 in Quezon City.

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«We immediately proceeded to Project 4. And we found out that the actual residents of 138 Kalantiaw Street are spouses