(UPDATES) THE arraignment of Alice Guo before a Valenzuela City court for a graft case was rescheduled for the second time.
A lawyer from Regional Trial Court Branch 282, who spoke on condition that she would not be named, told The Manila Times on Monday the arraignment has been reset for October 28 at 1:30 p.m.
The lawyer said Judge Elena Amigo-Amano postponed the arraignment after the court received a motion to amend information from the Office of the Ombudsman last Friday.
Amigo-Amano had allowed Guo to post a bail of P540,000, which was tripled after the prosecution filed a motion citing her as a high-profile respondent.
The judge gave the prosecution time to submit its reply to a motion by Guo’s lawyers to quash information when the case of two counts of graft was filed in Capas, Tarlac.
Guo allegedly used her position as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, to issue permits for the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her town.
The Supreme Court has ordered the case transferred from Capas to Valenzuela.
Guo, who is detained at the Pasig City jail, was charged with qualified trafficking, a non-bailable offense, in connection with the Bamban POGO hub.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called on authorities to dig deeper in allegations that Guo is a spy for China.
In a video documentary footage, She Zhijiang, who is detained in Thailand and fighting deportation to China, claimed he and Guo were Chinese spies.
At last week’s Senate hearing, Guo denied she was a spy.
“Whether or not she is a spy is something yet to be determined with finality by the proper authorities,” Teodoro said. “What is clear is that she is not a Filipino. Secondly, she falsified documents to pretend she is a Filipino, and thirdly, she was an active co-conspirator to a massive illegal and criminal enterprise where all the illegal activities started.”
Teodoro also said authorities should have realized that the POGO hub is near a key military base, Camp O’Donell, in Capas.
“It is curious that a 32-building complex [was] operating within two minutes flying time away from the Tradoc (training and doctrine command) and the light armor division [headquarters],” Teodoro said in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo.
“All of the authorities should have been aware at the time, particularly the local authorities,” he said.
Camp O’Donell is a frequent venue of the annual Balikatan joint exercise between the Philippine and United States armed forces, he said.
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