Then Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in a Senate hearing in Pasay City on May 22, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File MANILA – The camp of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo asserted Friday that mere documents such as an electric bill were not enough to prove her alleged involvement in human trafficking.

The electricity bills of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) that authorities raided for alleged human trafficking were named under Guo, authorities earlier alleged. 

In a counter-affidavit submitted by Guo through her lawyers to the Department of Justice, she said that the complaint filed against her by the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission should be dismissed by the investigating panel.

Guo said that an electric bill is simply a record of electricity usage and does not state with certainty who is actually present at the property where illegal activities supposedly took place.

“I have yet to see a case where a mere electric bill could be validly used to support a claim that a person is involved in human trafficking,” Guo said in the counter-affidavit filed by her lawyers from Gana Atienza Avisado Law Offices.

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Guo added that being a former stockholder of Baofu, a real estate firm that leased its land to the Bamban POGO, does not imply management, decision-making nor operational involvement. 

She said that she was not in a position to influence the operations of Baofu, including alleged illegal activities of the company.

“My lawyers informed me that merely being an incorporator does not in itself imply malice,” Guo said. 

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The embattled mayor also said her former position as mayor of Bamban did not amount to the criminal act of human trafficking. 

Guo said her duties included issuing licenses and permits as Zun Yuan, the alleged POGO operator, applied for a business permit with the necessary documents. 

“Given that the requirements that Zun Yuan submitted were complete and met all necessary legal standards, I had no ground to deny their application for permit,” Guo said. 

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She urged the DOJ investigating panel to re-open the case and admit her attached counter-affidavit. 

The DOJ submitted for resolution Guo’s case after she failed to file her counter-affidavit in time and she was no longer given an extension by the panel. 

Guo told the panel that the delay was caused by the need to verify the accuracy of voluminous documents in her counter-affidavit while dealing with security, medical and mental health concerns. 

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The justice department needs to verify Guo went to a notary public for her counter-affidavit.

“Tiningnan ko siya (the counter-affidavit), it was sworn before a notary public, binigay ko na sa NBI para alamin kung may ganon talagang notaryo publiko, na sa ating, sa Supreme Court at bukod doon kung meron man, hanapin iyong notaryo at alamin kung humarap talaga sa kanya si Mayor Guo,” DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said.

Also on Friday afternoon, respondent Dennis Cunanan appeared before the DOJ to file his counter-affidavit.

Ty noted that the complainants Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission have until August 27 to file their reply-affidavits.

“Yung mga complainants, CIDG saka PAOCC, humingi ng time to file reply-affidavit, kasi ang balita ko may mga, depensa ng ilang respondent, iyong mga nag-file nung huli para sa kanila kailangan nilang sagutin,” Ty said.

Ty said the respondents may file their rejoinder until September 6 and after that the case is considered submitted for resolution.