VARIOUS sectors have urged the Senate to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged continued granting of VIP treatment to convicted human trafficker and former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo while she is detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.
Guo was transferred to the CIW on December 5 from the Pasig City Jail Women’s Dormitory, along with two other women who were sentenced to reclusion perpetua by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 167 in connection with a POGO-related case in Tarlac.
Guo, Jaimielyn Santos Cruz, and Rachelle Joan Malonzo Carreon were moved to the CIW pursuant to a Mittimus Order issued and signed by Judge Annielyn B. Mendes-Cabels of RTC Branch 167.
However, just days after the three convicted human traffickers were transferred to the CIW, the government expressed concern over reports that Guo was allegedly receiving “special treatment” while detained at the facility in Mandaluyong City.
Based on information received, two men described as “Chinese-looking” reportedly visited Guo four times over the past weekend. They were allegedly neither lawyers nor representatives of the Chinese Embassy.
Reports further indicated that Guo may have benefited from certain privileges not usually granted to other persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), raising concerns over alleged preferential treatment inside the facility.
Several sectors stressed that the Senate’s extensive investigation into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) would be rendered futile and meaningless if the principal suspect continues to receive alleged VIP treatment while in detention.
The prisoners’ rights group Kapatid immediately expressed doubt over CIW officials’ statements denying that Guo is receiving special privileges. According to the group, alleged “VIP treatment” for influential detainees has long been a persistent problem in the country’s prison system.
“These reports are nothing new to us. Families of political prisoners have long observed how VIPs—Very Important PDLs—receive privileges that are usually denied to the poor and those without influence or connections,” said Fides Lim, spokesperson of Kapatid.
In May 2024, Senator Risa Hontiveros led a Senate investigation against Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, over her questionable Filipino citizenship and her alleged links to a POGO operating in her town. The POGO facility was raided by authorities due to suspected involvement in illegal activities.
The series of investigations against Guo were widely covered by the mainstream media and exposed a wide range of illegal activities linked to Chinese-owned POGOs, including fake citizenships, killings, torture, illegal detention, drug use, prostitution, slavery, and money laundering, among many others.
In light of these developments, groups asserted that it is only proper for the committee led by Hontiveros to revisit the actual conditions of PDLs, particularly how billions of pesos in government funds are being spent to ensure fair and equal enforcement of the law—an objective rendered meaningless if certain detainees are given preferential treatment.
