NBI apologizes as Marcos downplays officials' selfies with Alice Guo
NBI director Jaime Santiago has apologized following the viral selfie of the agency’s personnel with Dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, saying their joy with their successful operation has been simply “misconstrued.”
Santiago made the statement during his interview with DZBB Super Radyo on Friday, Sept. 6.
“Alam niyo sa akin natural human reaction ‘yung nagtagumpay ka, masaya ka e. Pero inuulit ko po, hindi po ako sumasayang-ayos sa ganon,” he said, referring to the viral selfie were the agents were seen smiling with Guo.
“Kailangan maintain your professionalism at seryoso ka lang dapat,” he continued. Santiago added that they would conduct a debriefing with the personnel to prevent such incidents from happening again.
“Humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa ating mamamayan; Na-misconstrue lang po 'yung kasiyahan namin na tagumpay tayo at tapos na ang aming paghihirap,” Santiago said.
For his part, Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, who is also a Quad Comm co-chair, said the celebrity treatment of Alice Guo was uncalled for.
“Dapat ang treatment ng apprehension ng mga fugitive talaga. It goes to everybody. Application of the law must be fair,” he told the reports during a Zoom interview on Friday.
Despite this, he noted that such behavior by the officials may be employing a “reverse psychology” tactic to gain Guo’s trust and confidence.
“Sometimes merong kang gagawing isang bagay para makuha mo yung trust and confidence. And I think 'yun 'yung kanilang nasa isip during that time...And we cannot blame them,” he maintained.
‘Part of new culture’
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. downplayed the backlash of the viral photos, saying that it’s simply a “part of the new culture.”
“I think that is part of the new culture now na nagpapakuha lagi ng kahit ano. Tapos ipo-post nila, tingnan mo o nakasama ako dito sa team ng ganyan-ganyan. Ang tawag natin sa Pilipinas, we are the selfie capital of the world ‘di ba. Eh di nag-selfie. Hindi mo naman mapigilan ang tao na ngumiti,” Marcos said.
“They just had a selfie. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that. Nagpa-selfie sila."
Social media users expressed their dismay over the photos of Guo with visibly happy Philippine officials, including Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Franciso Marbil, as well as agents of the National Bureau of Investigation during the turnover in Jakarta.
Despite this, Abalos stressed that no special treatment had been given to Guo.
“There are no special treatments. Right now, she (Guo) has a mugshot, she is now in jail. No cellphone, no aircon. Just like an ordinary detainee,” the DILG chief said.
Abalos said he had asked for the picture to be taken as proof they had apprehended her but did not realize the former mayor was posing for the camera.
He also clarified that the government did not pay for the chartered flight to escort Guo, saying that the aircraft was owned by his friend.
Indonesian authorities arrested Guo at Cendana Parc Residences in Tangerang City in Banten province on Sept. 4. She was turned over to Philippine officials on Sept. 5 and finally brought back to the country in the early morning of Sept. 6.
The dismissed mayor allegedly left the Philippines as early as July after the Senate had ordered her arrest after she skipped hearings on the illegal POGO operations.
Where is Guo now?
Upon her arrival, she was served an arrest warrant by the Capas Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109. Sen. Risa Hontiveros lamented that Guo was taken to the PNP custodial facility instead of the Senate, which first ordered the latter's arrest.
She also noted that there was something “irregular” with the filing of a case at a local court, saying that it should have been filed at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan instead of a local court.
“Did the DILG file a deliberately watered-down case to wrest custody of the fugitive? Why? What happened was irregular. We will get to the bottom of who is orchestrating all this circus and wild goose chase,” Hontiveros said.
Guo was ordered arrested by the Tarlac court in connection with the graft case filed against her by the DILG for allegedly violating Section 3 (E) and 3 (H) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The court set the bail at P90,000 for each charge.
But because she opted not to post her bail, she will remain in police custody.
“Guo Hua Ping wants to be detained at the PNP instead of at the Senate. We need to ask why. Why in a jail more than in the Senate detention facility?” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros yesterday asked Judge Sarah Vedaña-Delos Santos of RTC Branch 109 in Tarlac to allow Guo’s attendance at the next Senate hearing set for Monday, Sept. 9 for the Senate probe about her ongoing criminal cases.
Marcos also asked the dismissed mayor to stop being “evasive” and to address the allegations thrown at her during the probe.
“All of these questions have actually been asked by both the House and the Senate. I just hope she answers it better than her cohorts, Cassandra Ong and Shiela Guo. They were very evasive,” he said.
“Because it will not help her at all to be evasive. Mas bibigat ang problema nya kung hindi sya magsabi ng totoo,” Marcos added.
He also clarified on Friday that there was no official request from the Indonesian government for a prisoner swap in exchange for Guo’s extradition to the country following reports that Indonesia demanded Gregor Johann Haas, an Australian man wanted by Jakarta for alleged drug smuggling.
“There was no swap,” the President said. “Because an article came out in Indonesia that there should be a swap. But that was not official."
Guo also faces money laundering charges, a tax evasion case, and a human trafficking complaint, among others. (With reports from Helen Flores, Marc Cayabyab, Sheila Crisostomo, and Daphne Galvez)
