THE Supreme Court (SC) has approved the transfer of the human trafficking charges against dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo to a National Capital Region (NCR) court from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 66 of Capas, Tarlac.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla wrote a letter to Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo where he raised the need to transfer the criminal case filed against Guo, Ma The Pong, Wang Weili, Lang Xu and others, including the alleged Pogo “big boss” Huang Zhiyang, to NCR to safeguard national interest and ensure fairness in the justice system.
Remulla said these “high profile cases” exceed local boundaries, which affect national security and general policies.
The Justice secretary also emphasized the importance of preserving the integrity of trial proceedings by preventing possible local biases or undue influences thereto with the utilization of a neutral venue along with the court’s blessing.
DOJ Undersecretary-in-Charge of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Iacat) Nicholas Felix L. Ty said the charges, which stemmed from the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), will be filed next week before the appropriate RTC.
Under the present law governing trafficking in persons, individuals who organize an establishment engaged in human trafficking may be held accountable for human trafficking despite not having direct participation in criminal activities such as torture, rape, forced labor and other related acts.
The CIDG and PAOCC filed the complaints following the rescue of dozens of individuals, mostly foreign nationals, in the raided illegal Pogo in Bamban, Tarlac in March. The raid sparked a Senate inquiry, which centered on Guo, who is allegedly one and the same person as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.
Guo is currently detained at the PNP Custodial Facility in Camp Crame over graft and corruption cases filed against her by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
