Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo is accompanied by Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos inside a room at the Royal Star Aviation hangar in Pasay City shortly after her arrival from Indonesia on Friday. Guo, who is facing several cases related to her alleged involvement in illegal gambling operations, was arrested in Indonesia earlier this week after fleeing the Philippines in July undetected. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla thinks dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo should be under the custody of the Bureau of Immigration.

Remulla made the statement in a press briefing on Wednesday, when asked who should take custody of Guo and where she should be detained.

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"Kung may dapat magde-detain kay Alice Guo it should be the Bureau of Immigration. (If someone should detain Alice Guo it should be the Bureau of Immigration.)An Immigration case should take precedence over everything. Non-bailable yan (That's non-bailable)," he said.

Guo was originally intended to be transferred to Senate custody—until a Tarlac court issued a warrant against her that put her under the jurisdiction of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

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"Fake passport niya (her passport is fake), her being an alien actually, trying to pass herself off as a Filipino. I think that is a major violation of law within our country. It’s really an immigration matter. Of course, the criminal aspect would be there," Remulla explained.

Remulla went on to say there is a 'possible deportation case' against Guo. The Bureau of Immigration on Monday said Guo faces deportation charges for misrepresentation and undesirability.

"Ang tingin ko (I think), when everything clears up already, it would have to be with Immigration and Immigration would just have to seek our permission to bring her to court every time," Remulla said.

Guo remains under the custody of the PNP but senators insist Guo should be detained at the Senate since their arrest order came first. 

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Remulla said they are still awaiting the reply of the Office of the Ombudsman. He wrote to the Ombudsman to seek clarification over the graft case filed against Guo in a Capas Regional Trial Court.

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Remulla earlier said the case should have been filed before Sandiganbayan.

"We expect them to respond to our letter very soon. We also intend to write a letter to the court administrator so that all these confusion will be done away with. We cannot allow these things to happen again. I don't think we want a conflict of jurisdiction for any person we want tried for different crimes. So dapat ito maging clear," he said.

"The Capas court cannot take precedence over what the Sandiganbayan should be doing. This is a case of a really, a court issuing an order without jurisdiction," the DOJ chief added.

Remulla admitted he was not comfortable knowing the case against Guo was filed in a court within Tarlac, wherein she was a mayor of a municipality.

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"It’s commonsensical to think that she would be more influential in that area which has been in her sphere of influence because she’s the mayor in a town in the province where she’s being taken as a detainee, kaya may discomfort kaagad ako sa simula palang," he said.

Remulla said the human trafficking complaint filed against Guo has already been submitted for resolution, which they expect to be out within this week or next week.

He said they want the case resolved soon to prevent dilatory tactics from Guo.

Meantime, the DOJ said the supposed surrender feeler from Wesley, the brother of Alice Guo, remains part of an ongoing investigation.

"Sa ngayon part of the process of investigation lang yan. Kasi, gaya ng nangyari noong iba, this could be a deflection, hindi natin alam baka nililihis lang tayo. (Now that is just part of the process of investigation. Because, like previous instances, this could be a deflecion.We don't know if we are being diverted.) It's the burden on them to show proof na they really intend to voluntarily surrender," Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said.

"Pag hindi siya sumuko, hindi totoo. So we'll just have to wait," Remulla added.

(If he doesn't surrender, it's not true. So we'll just have to wait.)