Letter from Mayor Alice Guo Sent To Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero
MAYOR ALICE GUO – The suspended Mayor of Bamban, Tarlac said sorry to Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero over her statement on senators.
The authorities have yet to locate suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Guo. The Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms visited all the registered addresses of Mayor Guo but found no avail. They also visited her farm and garments factories but she was not there.
Only the accountant of Mayor Guo was arrested by the authorities. Currently, the Mayor is faced with allegations on her alleged involvement to the raided illegal POGOs in her town. There are also questions about her identity.
The National Bureau of Investigation, more commonly called NBI, also found out that the fingerprints of Mayor Guo and Chinese national Guo Hua Ping matched. Currently, there are no information as to where the Mayor is. Her lawyer, Attorney Stephen David, also expressed his hope that she will surrender to the Senate.
The next Senate hearing is set on July 29. Mayor Guo may be tagged as a “fugitive” if she still won’t appear in the next hearing. Recently, amid a pending arrest order, Mayor Guo released a statement where she advised the senators to focus on critical issues in the country.
The suspended Mayor stressed that the lawmakers are focusing on her when they should be putting their attention on national security, poverty, and food shortage among other critical issues. Her statement did not sit well with Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero.
Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero said that Mayor Alice Guo cannot tell the senators what to do. Recently, the suspended Mayor sent a letter to the Senate President. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, she said sorry to Sen. Escudero and said that she was just giving suggestions.
Mayor Guo stressed that it was not her intention to dictate the lawmakers on what they should prioritized. According to her, she understands that each senator has a job to do and duty to the country. She expressed that her intention is to give suggestions to the lawmakers based on the problems experienced by the people of Bamban.
“Umaasa po akong mabibigyan ng pagkakataon na maipagtanggol ang aking sarili sa tamang forum,” the Mayor said.
Based on the article, Mayor Guo said that Sen. Escudero understands the importance of “presumption of innocence” and the need to respect every person’s right while the probe is ongoing. According to the Senate President, he gets that the Mayor is seeking for understanding. However, she needs to appear before the Senate.
Escudero stressed that while Guo is not surfacing, he cannot accept any request that she stated in her letter to him. He also believes that there is no reason to stop the investigation on POGOs.