The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Tuesday that controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo was included in the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he received the three-page ILBO dated June 21 from the DOJ against Guo, a certain Guo Hua Ping, and 17 others.
An ILBO is issued by the DOJ for prudence, instructing immigration officers to double check if there are any pending arrest warrants against the subjects, any violation or infraction, or to monitor their itineraries and whereabouts should they attempt to leave the country.
According to the said ILBO, considering the gravity of charges, subjects may attempt to place themselves beyond the reach of legal processes by fleeing the country.
The BI is ordered to relay to the DOJ attempts to obtain information for the proper course of action to be undertaken by immigration officers.
The order also states that a precautionary Hold Departure Order will be filed against the subjects.
Tansingco said the alert has been encoded in their system to allow BI officers to detect any attempts to travel.
Meanwhile, the BI was able to intercept the travel of a Chinese woman included in the ILBO.
The woman, identified as Zhang Jie, 30, attempted to board a flight to Jinjiang, China at the Davao International Airport (DIA).
Officers were alerted of her records prompting them to conduct secondary inspection and verification with the DOJ, in compliance with the ILBO.
Tansingco said they have reason to suspect that Zhang has visa problems as she declared herself as unemployed, but was presenting a 9(g) commercial employment visa.
Foreign nationals who have ceased employment from their petitioning company are required to surrender their ACR I-Cards and downgrade their visa. Tansingco said that they are set to conduct an investigation on her visa status.
Zhang was stopped from boarding the plane upon confirmation from representatives of the DOJ Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.
She was taken into custody and transferred to the BI Warden’s Facility pending resolution of the deportation case to be filed against her.
Last week, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the Philippine National Police filed a complaint against Guo and 13 others for alleged human trafficking in connection to the POGO hub in her municipality, which was raided in March for alleged illegal activities that include crypto and love scam.
Earlier in June, the Department of the Interior and Local Government filed graft charges against Guo with the Office of the Ombudsman, prompting it to suspend her for up to six months.
Guo’s identity as a Filipino is also being questioned before the Senate.