The Supreme Court directed the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality to comment on a petition filed by suspended Bamban town Mayor Alice Guo’s lawyers seeking to invalidate the subpoena compelling her appearance at the ongoing probe on illegal POGO activities.
SC spokesperson Camile Ting on Tuesday said the panel headed by Senator Risa Hontiveros was given 10 days to respond to Guo’s petition for certiorari and temporary restraining order.
The petition for certiorari also sought to annul the panel’s subpoena and exclude Guo as a resource person in future hearings on POGOs.
Guo’s camp cited the physical and mental toll the much-publicized Senate inquiry has taken on the mayor as reason for her absence in the last two hearings
Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday inspected the detention room intended for Guo, her parents and three siblings in case they are arrested
Escudero said once caught, the Guos will be kept in a room near the Philippine National Police (PNP) Detachment inside the Senate compound until the next hearing set on July 29.
The air-conditioned room reserved for the Guos is located outside the six-storey Senate building.
Escudero guaranteed the safety of the Guo family and other resource persons who will be called to testify in the ongoing investigation into POGOs.
To encourage the mayor’s cooperation, Escudero said she can even be released on her own recognizance if she appears, but emphasized the leniency will still be on Hontiveros’ discretion.
As of the moment, only Nancy Gamo, the accountant of Guo, is detained at the Senate
For his part, Office of the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) Chief Roberto Ancan assured that the Guos will be provided security “24/7.”
“I’ve done it before. I was a commander before, and I assured the people within my area of responsibility that they are safe,” said the retired lieutenant general.
Ancan said Guo and the others will be allowed visitors within visiting hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
He said the Senate would provide them with food three times a day, but they can also bring their own food and even their own beddings.
At the Lower House, a lawmaker urged concerned government authorities to look into how foreign nationals like Guo managed to secure fake government documents.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said authorities should find out how foreign nationals have been able to secure official documents from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) or the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as he raised concerns that shady foreign nationals can pass themselves off as legitimate Filipinos.
“The case of the suspended mayor, who has not only been linked to POGOs believed to be engaged in serious crimes, but even got herself elected as the first mayora (female mayor) of her hometown of Bamban (in Tarlac) despite her now questioned Filipino citizenship and background, should spur the full-blown investigation of how seemingly shady aliens like her have managed to obtain government documents and IDs attesting to their being legit Filipinos,” Villafuerte said.
“Obviously, a ton of money has been changing hands, so a thorough probe is in order to pinpoint—and haul to jail—those in and out of the government who are behind this citizenship-for-a-price racket,” he added.
In a statement on Tuesday, Hontiveros also called for a probe to uncover those behind the 1,200 falsified birth certificates discovered in Davao del Sur.
“Let us stop selling Filipino citizenship. Our identity cannot be bought or sold,” she said in Filipino.
“Uncovering thousands of fake identities is a clear threat to public order and national security. Our recent legislative inquiries into POGOs have already revealed that criminal groups use fake Filipino citizenship to carry out their illicit activities. We, at the Senate, will continue to look into this alarming trend,” Hontiveros added.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Senate detention facility ready to accommodate Guo family as soon as they are arrested—Escudero
