DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo will share a cramped detention cell with 44 detainees at the Pasig City Jail female dormitory, where she will be transferred Monday, September 23.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) spokesman Supt. Jayrex Bustinera said in a radio interview Sunday that security has been beefed up as they prepare for the turnover from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The BJMP also formed a response team composed of female jail officers, who will accompany Guo when she is transported to her court hearings. Bustinera gave assurances Guo would be safe at the BJMP-supervised Pasig City Jail.
“We had special arrangement for security. We provided additional personnel. We tightened our security because of her. The BJMP assures her safety and security,” he said.
He said the female dormitory of the Pasig Jail currently houses 135 detainees, way above its ideal capacity of 36.
Guo’s cell, built to accommodate only nine detainees, has an industrial fan and comfort room and is well-maintained, according to Bustinera.
The BJMP also did a background check on Guo’s would-be cellmates.
“They are not violent PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) or high risk,” Bustinera said.
On Friday, the Pasig Regional Trial Court ordered the transfer of Guo from Crame custody after finding probable cause to hold her and her co-accused for trial of human trafficking, a non-bailable case.
Her counsels said they would file a petition to post bail before the arraignment on September 27. Guo’s scheduled transfer on Friday night to the Pasig jail from the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame did not push through, PNP spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo said.The PNP said it needed more time to complete the documents for a custody transfer, which includes a medical assessment.
The former mayor went through the booking procedure and a medical check-up at Camp Crame in line with the court order for her transfer.
On Friday, Guo posted a P540,000 bail in a graft case before the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court-Branch 282.
She remains in detention due to another case and the contempt orders from the Senate and House of Representatives.
On Sunday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Guo “can’t make bail, so she can’t use her POGO (Philippine online gaming operator) money to get around the law. This is a start and a big win for the victims of human trafficking who were forced to work in the POGO scam hub in Bamban, Tarlac.”
Hontiveros said she was delighted that the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which she authored, had been used effectively.
“Guo Hua Ping, you have no escape,” Hontiveros, the chairman of the Senate committee investigating criminal activities in POGOs, said, referring to Alice Guo by her Chinese name. “We will have at least one more hearing. Take that opportunity to tell the whole truth finally.”
WITH PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY
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