By Joseph Anthony A. Damgo
Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (Photo courtesy of PNA)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday announced it has issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and 17 others.
This even as the Bureau of Immigration (BI) bared they had intercepted a Chinese woman included in the ILBO against Guo.
“By virtue of the ILBO, the Bureau of Immigration is ordered to monitor their every move and alert those in charge of any attempt to leave the country,” Justice Undersecretary Margarita Gutierrez said during the Bagong Pilipinas interview.
Gutierrez said Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla directed the BI to monitor the whereabouts of Guo, also referred to as "Guo Hua Ping", and the 17 others, including former Technology and Resource Center director general Dennis Cunanan, should they attempt to leave the country.
The order came after the filing of human trafficking cases against them at the DOJ last week in connection with the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) hub in her municipality, which was raided in March for alleged illegal activities.
The BI, for its part, said it has started implementing the order by checking if Guo and the 17 others have pending arrest warrants or cases, and monitoring their whereabouts.
Guttierrez said the department would ask the court this week to issue a Preliminary Hold Departure Order (PHDO) against the subjects.
Aside from the human trafficking complaints filed against Guo and several others, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC)is also mulling to press more charges against the suspended mayor, this time, in connection with her alleged involvement in illegal (POGO) hubs in Porac, Pampanga.
PAOCC spokesman Dr. Winston John Casio said the digital footprints and paper trails of raided POGO hubs in Porac and Bamban established Guo’s connection to their operations.
Guo, whose identity and citizenship have been placed under scrutiny, was placed under a six-month preventive suspension without pay by the Office of the Ombudsman on May 31 following the administrative complaints of the Department of the Interior and Local Government for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
CAUGHT. Chinese national Zhang Jie, 30,was intercepted by immigration officers at the Davao International Airport on June 23, 2024. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday (June 25, 2024) said the foreigner was included in the immigration lookout bulletin (ILBO) against suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo. (Photo courtesy of BI)
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco announced they had prevented 30-year-old Zhang Jie from boarding a flight to Jinjiang, China at the Davao International Airport on June 23.
Tansingco said BI officers were alerted of her records, prompting them to conduct secondary inspection and verification with the Department of Justice (DOJ), in compliance with the ILBO.
Zhang was reportedly a manager of an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator facility in Porac, Pampanga which was raided by authorities on June 5.
Tansingco said they suspected that Zhang had visa problems as she declared herself as unemployed but presented a 9(g) commercial employment visa. Tansingco said they are set to conduct an investigation on her visa status.
Foreign nationals who have ceased employment from their petitioning company are required to surrender their Alien Certificate of Registration I-Cards and downgrade their visas.
Upon confirmation of instruction from DOJ representatives from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, Zhang was stopped from boarding.
She was taken into custody and transferred to the BI Warden’s Facility pending resolution of the deportation case to be filed against her.
The BI chief said his office received the ILBO against Guo, a certain Guo Hua Ping and 17 others from the DOJ on June 21.