Immigration lookout bulletin issued vs Guo

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has signed the immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against suspended Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac and several others over alleged human trafficking violations, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

- DAPHNE GALVEZ

The ILBO has been forwarded to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), and the agency was tasked to monitor their movements and alert the DOJ when any of the subjects attempts to leave the country.

"The DOJ will also ask for the issuance of a preliminary hold departure order from the court," the DOJ said in a statement on June 25.

A PHDO, if granted by the court, will prevent Guo and her co-respondents from leaving the country while the DOJ is conducting preliminary investigation of the charges filed against them.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said he had already received the three-page ILBO, dated June 21, issued by the DOJ against Mayor Guo, a certain Guo Hua Ping and 17 others. Tansingco said the alert has been encoded in their system to allow BI officers to detect any attempts to travel.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian earlier expressed his suspicion that Mayor Guo and Guo Hua Ping are one and the same person.

Last June 23, the BI intercepted at the Davao International Airport (DIA) 30-year-old Chinese national Zhang Jie, who was reportedly included in the ILBO. She was stopped from boarding her flight to Jinjiang, China.

According to news reports, Zhang is allegedly a manager of the POGO in Porac, Pampanga.

The BI explained that an ILBO is issued by the DOJ for prudence, instructing immigration officers to double check if there are any pending arrest warrants against the subjects, any violation or infraction or to monitor their itineraries and whereabouts should they attempt to leave the country.