Atty. Stephen David, Alice Guo’s Lawyer, Accused of Lying in Previous Claims
Alice Guo’s lawyer, Stephen David, denied that he lied on the whereabouts of the former Mayor to the media amid her reported departure from the Philippines.
Undeniably, the departure of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo from the Philippines amid her name being on the immigration lookout bulletin and multiple complaints filed against her caused a lot of disappointments among many people.
The senators leading the investigation on the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming operations in the country, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian, were among those who were dismayed by the departure of the former Mayor.
There is a pending arrest order issued by the Senate against Guo. However, after reportedly visiting all her registered addresses, the authorities only found negative presence of the dismissed Mayor.
Guo is faced with allegations about her supposed involvement in the illegal POGO operations in her town and her identity. She is identified as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping after the matching of her fingeprints with the fingerprints of the Chinese national who entered the country in 2003.
Currently, the authorities including the Bureau of Immigration believes that former Mayor Guo is still in Indonesia. Reportedly, her first stop from the Philippines was Malaysia then Singapore before she flew to Indonesia.
Guo’s supposed companions, Shiela Guo and Cassandra Ong, were detained in Indonesia and sent back to the Philippines. Both of them denied being involved in the illegal POGO operations.
Amid the reported departure of former Mayor Alice Guo last August 19, Atty. Stephen David, Alice Guo’s lawyer, claimed that his client has not left the Philippines. According to him, they have talked over the phone and he asked her about her reported departure and she denied leaving the country.
However, the authorities including the foreign counterparts of the immigration confirmed the departure of Guo. It sparked allegations of lying on the part of former Mayor Alice Guo’s lawyer following his statements to the media.
Recently, Atty. Stephen David spoke and denied the “lying” allegations. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the lawyer stressed that he did not lie when he gave those statements as he was only trusting his client “in good faith”.
“I vehemently deny that I made untruthful statements in the media regarding her whereabouts… I consistently say that I am fully relying on what my client has told me. In other words, I was merely echoing her declaration that she is still in the country,” Atty, David said.
Previously, the lawyer of Alice Guo expressed his belief that she will surrender to the authorities. However, shortly after, he claimed that they have no communication anymore.