Hontiveros: Deportation won't save Guo from jail time in the Philippines  

MANILA, Philippines — If a Philippine court convicts her, suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo will have to serve her sentence in the country before being deported, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said on Friday.

In a virtual press conference on Friday, the senator said that she was assured by Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty, head of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, that Guo would have to complete her sentence in the country if she is convicted of the crimes that have been filed against her by the Philippine government.

"Even if she gets a penalty of deportation, if she is convicted in any of the cases, she will first have to serve her sentence in the Philippines," Hontivero said in Filipino.

Ejecting Guo from the country will not give her a "free pass" from facing the "consequences" if she is found guilty of violating the country's laws by local courts, Hontiveros added.

Guo is facing the non-bailable offense of qualified human trafficking, which was filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) nearly a week ago.

In response to the human trafficking complaint, Guo asserted that "mere connections to companies... do not suffice as grounds for labeling someone a conspirator."

Guo has also repeatedly maintained that she has no involvement with Philippine offshore gaming operators in the country.

On top of this, the Office of the Solicitor General is eyeing to file a quo warranto case against Guo, which would remove her from her position. 

On Friday, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said that the new findings by the National Bureau of Investigation that show Guo's fingerprints matching that of a Chinese national named "Guo Hua Ping" could speed up the filing of a quo warranto case against her.

Guevarra said that while the new evidence is "extremely useful," these will have to be combined with other existing evidence.

Hontiveros said that the matching fingerprints between Guo, who previously said that she was born in the Philippines, and "Guo Hua Ping," is the strongest evidence to date that justifies Guo's removal from office.