Senate must present evidence instead of forcing information out of Alice Guo – lawyer

Instead of calling the dismissed Bamban and Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo a liar and forcing her to testify against herself, the Senate should present evidence to support its allegations.

With this statement, Guo’s legal advisor Stephen David justified the ex-mayor’s reference to her right not to testify against herself during the Senate investigation into her alleged ties to illegal POGOs.

“Kung meron ka na ebidensya, patunayan mo. Huwag mong puwersahin ang tao. Huwag mong takutin. Huwag mong sigawan. Huwag mong ikulong. Bigyan mo ng respeto ng bilang sa tao,” David said in a telephone interview with reporters.

(If you have evidence, prove it. Don’t force anyone. Don’t threaten them. Don’t yell at them. Don’t lock them up. Show people the respect they deserve.)

“It’s not that long ago that it was up to the Senate, but it’s not good to do it. But it’s not like we’ve been dealing with the government, but I’ve set out to do one thing that I’ve set out to do. He added:

(As far as I see it now, the Senate can’t prove it. That’s why they force her to admit or speak or whatever… in our system of government, you can’t force someone to incriminate themselves. You can’t force someone to confess or compel a statement by forcing them and telling them they have to admit it.’)

As an example, he cited allegations that immigration officials or government officials helped Guo escape the country.

“Sabi nila, I don’t know who the immigration authorities are or not. I don’t know what I mean. I don’t know what happened, and so on. Alam mo, madali naman But that’s not all you need to know, what you need to know silang masubstantiate na ebidensya,” he said.

(They said she was able to leave with the help of immigration or someone else. Bring out the man who helped her, bring out the one who was bribed. They said someone got money and so on. You know, it’s easy to say someone was bribed. But what’s painful is that people believe that even if there’s no basis for it, even without evidence. What happens is that you make an accusation, people believe it and in the eyes of the public the person is already guilty even if they have no evidence to back it up.)

He also mentioned the documents submitted in connection with Guo’s bank transactions, which he said were not sufficiently informative and were only used for “generalizations”.

“Sasabihin lang nila s Senate, ito galing kay ganito, dinaan sa ganitong bangko, ganyan-ganyan. Eh, puro generalization yun eh. Tapos, kukuhanin mo yung detail sa tao. Kukuhanin mo yung en talye niya kay Alice. Kasi kung talagang solid yung evidence, labas mo na lang… Huwag na lang puro general accusations ‘yan,” David said.

(In the Senate, they just say the money came from here, it went through that bank, and so on. But these are all just generalizations. You get the details from the person. You get the details from Alice. Because if the evidence is really solid, just present it… Don’t keep making general statements.)

“If you have any proof, you must know that Mayor Alice has confirmed a document ‘Kaya lang nagiging ang sinasabi niya kasi gusto siyang umamin,'” he added.

(If there is compelling evidence, why does Mayor Alice need to confirm it or say anything about it? Why? What Mayor Alice says is irrelevant once you have the documents. The only reason her testimony becomes relevant is to make her admit it.)

For David, the Senate’s investigation is “support for the prosecution” and is intended to prove that Guo is guilty of the charges against her.

“I hope that is the case. Mayor Alice requested this in aid of law enforcement. I want a finding of guilt. What a good hearing, what a result of the Senate investigation, I was also guilty of due process?” he said.

(We expect this type of response from Mayor Alice because it’s for law enforcement. It’s like you just want to determine the person’s guilt. We don’t have to have a hearing or trial anymore because you can just use that in court. She admitted it, she said it during the Senate investigation. That’s it, it’s over. You might as well say it in court, guilty. So what happens to our due process of law?)

David also compared the Senate investigation to the “Middle Ages,” where he said the rule of law was not upheld.

“In the medieval period, it is said that torture, bogeyman, kukulong. Ngayon, hindi ka tino torture, sinisigawan ka, pinapahiya ka, sinasabihan na sinungaling. Worse, kinukulong ka under the guise of contempt,” he said.

(In the Middle Ages, if you were not believed, you were tortured, beaten and imprisoned. Nowadays, they don’t torture you, they shout at you, humiliate you and call you a liar. In the worst case, they imprison you under the guise of contempt.)

GMA News Online has reached out to Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian and Senate President pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada for comment on David’s comments, but no response was received as of publication time.

The Senate’s investigation focused on Guo’s case over her alleged involvement in operating an illegal POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac, where she previously served as mayor.

During the investigation, it turned out that Guo has the same identity as Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping.

Guo also fled the Philippines during the Senate investigation, but was intercepted in Indonesia on September 4.

Guo is now accused of human trafficking and money laundering. A quo warranto application and an application to annul her birth certificate have also been filed against the dismissed mayor.—LDF, GMA Integrated News