One of the legal counsels of controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo said on Friday that the human trafficking case filed against her is weak.
Guo’s lawyer Alex Avisado made the statement as the Department of Justice (DOJ) began its preliminary investigation into the case.
“Look at the evidence against Mayor Alice Guo: paper, electric bill, letter of no objection, and articles of incorporation. These documents are not enough to commit the crime of human trafficking,” said Avisado, who appeared on behalf of Guo.
“There must be overt act. So, this case filed against her is weak. With all due respect, it’s weak,” the lawyer stressed.
The Supreme Court, in the case of Arroyo vs. People, defined the overt act as “some physical activity or deed, including the intention to commit a particular crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried out…without being frustrated by external obstacles…will logically and necessarily ripen into a concrete offense.”
“It really seems forced,” Guo’s lawyer noted, citing the complaint filed by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). “There is no direct evidence of human trafficking against Mayor Alice Guo,” he said.
Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said that in the next preliminary investigation, the respondents are required to submit their counter-affidavits in response to the criminal complaint filed against them.
“The panel of prosecution gave the respondents 15 days to file their counter-affidavit,” Ty told reporters.
Ty stressed that the respondents, including Guo should personally appear and affirm their affidavits before the panel of prosecutors.
