MANILA: The Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended a new case against former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who is currently detained after being convicted of qualified trafficking last year — this time for allegedly falsely declaring the identities and nationalities regarding the ownership of an agricultural property.
The DOJ issued a resolution dated March 3 in favour of a 2024 complaint filed by the Dagupan district office of the National Bureau of Investigation, which sought Guo’s indictment for false representation of Filipino ownership regarding 3Lin Q-Farm Inc. in Pangasinan, which her family allegedly owns.
The said offense is a violation of Commonwealth Act No. 108, or the antidummy law.
NBI Director Melvin Matibag lauded his agents in Dagupan for their “extensive investigation and case-building procedures.”
According to NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin, Guo, her siblings Shiela and Siemen and parents Jiang Zhong Guo and Lin Wenyi declared themselves as Filipinos when they bought four parcels of land under 3Lin Q-Farm in Mangatarem town, Pangasinan.
The misrepresentation was found in the company’s articles of incorporation and the certificate and general information sheet on the board’s secretary.
The NBI filed a motion for reconsideration after initially indicting Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, only for falsification of documents.
‘Dangerous precedent’
This led to the DOJ initially dropping the charges of false representation, arguing that Guo’s family acquired the property before the company issued its articles of incorporation.
In its motion, the NBI argued that the DOJ may be setting a “dangerous precedent” because erring businesses would simply buy land before incorporating a company to make them immune from penalties under the antidummy law.
The NBI also noted from its findings that certain incorporators attempted to circumvent legal restrictions on land ownership through falsification and stock simulation, with the “ultimate goal” of making the company legitimate so it would be guaranteed more rights and privileges accorded to a Filipino-owned enterprise.
Guo was convicted by a Pasig court last November of qualified trafficking and is serving a life term. She was also fined P2 million.
She is currently detained at the female dormitory of the Pasig City Jail, and is also facing charges of graft and money laundering as well as gross misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, among other administrative offenses.
The charges are all in connection with her alleged involvement with a leasing company that dealt with a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Bamban, where she was mayor for two years. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
