THE lawyer of Bamban, Tarlac, Mayor Alice Guo on Thursday filed a motion before the Office of the Ombudsman (Ombudsman) to lift the preventive suspension order it had issued against her.

The Ombudsman had ordered Guo preventively suspended while it investigates the administrative complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

In a nine-page order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on May 31, the Ombudsman suspended Guo and two others for six months.

"We filed a motion for reconsideration with a... request to lift her suspension. Six months is too long for a case which we believe has no strong evidence," lawyer Stephen David told reporters on Thursday after the motion was filed.

The DILG has formed a task force to find out if local officials were liable for allowing an illegal offshore gaming operation in Bamban.

On March 13, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission raided the compound of Baufo Land Development Inc. in the town.

A month earlier, the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group raided Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., an offshore gaming operator in the same compound.

As stated in the Ombudsman's order, the DILG-created task force found that Guo had bought eight parcels of land in Anupul village in Bamban and that transfer certificates of titles were "issued in the name of Baofu."

The DILG alleged "that Guo's divestment of shares in Baufo through a Deed of Assignment is simulated because the consideration of [P2.5 million] is grossly incongruent to her investment in Baufo, which is approximately eight hectares of land."

The DILG reported that "despite the raid of Zun Yuan [Technology] and its predecessor Hongsheng; the cancellation of Honsheng's license to operate; and the cease and desist order to operate issued by [the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation] against Zun Yuan, Guo did not cancel or revoke their business permits because of her business interest in Baofu."

Zun Yuan had been a gaming operator in the Baofu compound, based on the Ombudsman's order.

The DILG also stated that Guo failed to ensure that Business Permit and Licensing Officers Edwin Ocampo and Municipal Legal Officer Adenn Sigua "faithfully discharged their duties and functions, particularly in the compliance of Zun Yuan in the requirements for the application of business permit."

In the motion filed before the Ombudsman, Guo claimed that she issued a mayor's permit to Zun Yuan for 2023, which was renewed in 2024.

The mayor said the complaint "is founded on erroneous accusations."

The motion also added that Guo would like to establish that she bought the 7-hectare property when she was a private citizen. The property made up her share in the partnership formed to create Baofu Land Development, thus, the registration of the lot titles went directly to Baofu.

She said her divesting her share to another person "is a separate transaction from her act of selling her investment, which is the lot to the company. Thus, it is a misconception that her act of divesting her shares is simulated because the consideration is grossly incongruent to her actual share in Baofu," the motion stated.

Guo also stated in the motion that she "had no hand in the business of Zun Yuan."

She also denied that she did not revoke Zun Yuan's business permit because of her alleged business interest in Baofu.

As early as March 14, or a day after the raid on Zun Yuan, Guo conducted her own investigation, the motion read.

On March 19, the firm's business permit was revoked because of "non-compliance with the Affidavit of Undertaking previously submitted and highly considered in issuing the Business Permit in 2024." Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN Lawyers Stephen David, Nicole Jamilla, and Lorelie Santos, the legal team of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo file a Motion for Reconsideration and Urgent Motion to Lift Preventive Suspension before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on June 6, 2024. David said they were challenging the suspension against Guo as they believed that there was no strong evidence of guilt with regard to the graft complaint against Guo over the alleged illegal operations of POGO in Bamban, Tarlac PHOTOS BY ISMAEL DE JUAN

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