Guo allegedly getting special treatment from gov’t
By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
AN OUSTED Philippine town mayor with alleged links to Chinese criminal syndicates is getting special treatment from law enforcers after her arrest and deportation from Indonesia, a political science expert said at the weekend.
“The fact that the fugitive is highly suspected to be guilty of crimes against the state does not merit kid glove treatment,” Hansley A. Juliano, a political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.
He said it is the duty of the police, Bureau of Immigration and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to appear impartial, distant and professional.
“The fact that the Philippine National Police employs police brutality against urban poor and activists, while treating [former Bamban Mayor] Alice Guo like she isn’t even at great suspicion, continues to delegitimize the institution and erodes its credibility,” he added.
Ms. Guo, who was arrested and deported from Jakarta last week, has pending arrest warrants from the Senate and a Tarlac court.
A photo that surfaced online showed her and Immigration and NBI agents smiling for the camera while they were on their way to the airport.
Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. and national police chief Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, who both went to Jakarta to fetch Ms. Guo, also posed for the camera smiling with Ms. Guo.
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) President Ephraim B. Cortez said such actions leave a bad taste in the mouth.
“It leaves a bad taste in the mouth seeing agents being friendly with the arrested suspect and all of them grinning from ear to ear, which is not the same scenario when they arrest an ordinary drug pusher,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.
“These photos and videos… depict the special treatment accorded to Alice Guo, and the disparity in the treatment of ordinary citizens who are under arrest like her,” he added.
Mr. Cortez said photography is used by investigative agencies to aid their probes.
He added that while agents are not prohibited from being photographed with suspects, the photos should not be part of the investigation record and remain a private photo of the agent.
Mr. Abalos last week denied giving Ms. Guo special treatment. He added that the photos were part of the documentation process.
Ms. Guo’s legal counsel, Stephen L. David, did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment.
The dismissed mayor is set to attend a Senate hearing on Sept. 9 as the chamber continues its investigation of her alleged links to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO).
Ms. Guo faces complaints from the Ombudsman, Office of the Solicitor General and Commission on Elections (Comelec).
She allegedly left the Philippines illegally last July to go to Malaysia, then Singapore and Indonesia, where she was arrested.
Law enforcers last March raided a POGO compound in Bamban, Tarlac for operating without a license. The operator was also accused of human trafficking and operating a scam network.