Lawyer says he met Guo for counter-affidavit notarization in Bulacan

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyer who notarized dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo’s counter-affidavit for the non-bailable human trafficking case will file an affidavit to prove that he indeed met with the mayor.

Guo, who is being hunted by authorities, was reported to have escaped the country on July 17 despite being under an immigration lookout bulletin order.

According to Bulacan Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo, Elmer Galicia, the lawyer who notarized Guo’s counter-affidavit, claimed he encountered Guo in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

Ocampo, citing Galicia, mentioned that the dismissed mayor arrived at the latter's office in a Toyota Land Cruiser.

“He and Alice Guo spoke outside his office. He saw her, and Guo presented a driver’s license. Galicia then notarized the counter-affidavit, which was due to be submitted to the DOJ for the preliminary investigation,” Ocampo said in a mix of Filipino and English during an ambush interview with reporters on Tuesday.

According to jurisprudence, "a notary public should not notarize a document unless the persons who signed the same are the very persons who executed it and personally appeared before him to attest to the contents and truth of what is stated therein."

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Guo’s camp said they trust Galicia’s integrity and believe that the embattled mayor is still in the country.

“As to the notarization of Mayor Guo’s counter-affidavit, while Atty. Elmer A. Galicia, the notary public, is not from our law firm, we trust in his integrity and believe he would not jeopardize his license in the practice of the legal profession,” Stephen David, one of Guo’s lawyers, said in a statement.

Ocampo accompanied Galicia, a former legal officer from San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to clarify the notarization of Guo's counter-affidavit.

The prosecutor explained that he contacted Galicia after discovering he was the lawyer who notarized Guo's document. He added that Galicia willingly offered to go to the DOJ.

“We will not pre-judge whatever evidence he presents. It's up to him to volunteer any information. At this point, we just want to thank him for cooperating with us, for accepting our invitation to shed light on what happened, and we will wait for him to provide whatever evidence he has to explain the situation,” another prosecutor, Darwin Cañete, who also accompanied Galicia and Ocampo, said in an ambush interview with reporters.

In a message to Philstar.com, Justice Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said that Guo’s counter-affidavit pleads for the acceptance of their reply after their right to respond to the trafficking charges was waived due to their non-appearance in the preliminary investigations.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin also requested that the DOJ and the Department of Foreign Affairs “act” to cancel the passports of Guo, her siblings, and Cassandra Ong after it was reported that the dismissed mayor used a Philippine passport to escape the country.