MANILA (UPDATED) — The Office of the Ombudsman has rejected the separate motions for reconsideration filed by Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, and two others regarding their preventive suspension due to their alleged links to crimes involving illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the town.

Guo and two other Bamban town officials Edwin Campo and Adenn Sigua were put under preventive suspension due to a complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government over illegal activities at a POGO complex in Bamban.

READ: Ombudsman suspends Bamban Mayor Guo, 2 others over raps filed by DILG 

In a decision dated June 18 but only made public on Tuesday, the Ombudsman said it found "no compelling reason" to reconsider the 6-month preventive suspension order that began on May 31 against Guo, Campo, and Sigua. 

Guo's camp had earlier argued that the evidence against the mayor was weak and that lifting of the suspension should be made.

"Again, without delving into the merits of the case and without prejudging the same, this Office reiterates its preliminary finding that there are sufficient grounds to hold that the evidence against respondents Guo, Campo and Sigua is strong at this time," the Ombudsman said.

READ: PAOCC to file 'non-bailable criminal charges' vs. Alice Guo over POGO ops in Bamban

The Ombudsman also stressed that a preventive suspension is not a penalty but is merely a preventive measure or a preliminary step in an administrative investigation.

"[T]he purpose thereof is to prevent the accused from using his position and the powers and prerogative of his office to influence potential witnesses or to tamper with records which may be vital in the prosecution of the case against him," it said.

The junking of Guo's motion for reconsideration on her preventive suspension as Bamban town mayor comes after her party, Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), stripped her of membership due also to her alleged links to crimes involving POGOs in her town. 

Guo has been notified of her expulsion from the party through a notice sent to party secretary-general Mark Llandro Mendoza.

The NPC said Guo's alleged involvement with unlicensed POGOs and with related human and labor trafficking has put "grave doubt" on her integrity and on her adherence to the party's principles.

"The NPC cannot tolerate your dishonest and predominantly deceitful conduct which lie contrary to the party's core principles and functions," Mendoza also said in the notice.

READ: NPC expels Bamban Mayor Alice Guo from party ahead of 2025 polls