BAMBAN, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has been slapped by six month preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman along with two other local officials in relation to a complaint stemming from the operations of Philippine offshore gaming operators in the town.
Suspended along with Guo were Municipal Legal Officer Adenn Sigua and Business Permits and Licensing Office officer Edwin Ocampo.
Their preventive suspension is without pay, and the order is immediately executory.
The preventive suspension was imposed in the administrative complaint for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The DILG earlier said it also filed a graft complaint against Guo for allowing the Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., later renamed Zun Yuan Technology, to operate in her town even if it did not have all the requirements and its license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation was already expired.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, whose committee has been delving into the allegedly illegal activities of POGOs in Bamban and into Guo’s identity, hailed the Office of the Ombudsman’s order.
Hontiveros said Guo should have been suspended earlier.
“We also received information that she tried to obstruct the ongoing investigation immediately after the POGO was raided. This should have already warranted a suspension. We only hope this is not too late,” she said in a statement.
She noted that there are also allegations that the POGO in Bamban has been accused of involvement in hacking and surveillance activities.
