SENATE Majority Leader Francis Tolentino has affirmed his stance that only the Senate holds a valid arrest warrant for Alice Guo, saying that the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Capas, Tarlac, has no jurisdiction over the former Bamban town mayor's case. In affirming his stance, Tolentino, a lawyer and a law professor, cited during the Senate plenary session on Tuesday the transmitted sheet sent by the Office of the Ombudsman to the Executive Clerk of Court of the Third Judicial Region in Tarlac in filing the information for Guo's graft cases. The transmittal sheet, dated Aug. 29, 2024, and signed by Assistant Ombudsman Rex Reynaldo Sandoval, included a request to the Executive Clerk of Court "for appropriate action by the Honorable Executive / Presiding Judge in the immediate determination of the nearest judicial region." Tolentino argued that the request was according to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) Circular 10-2024 ... and RA 10660 or an Act Strengthening Further the Functional and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan." In last Monday's inquiry, Tolentino moved that the Senate take custody of Guo, arguing that the arrest warrant issued by RTC Branch 109 in Capas was in violation of RA 10660 since Guo held office in Bamban, which is located in the same judicial region, and not "the nearest judicial region." Under Section 2 of RA 10660 on jurisdiction, "...the cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Regional Trial Court under this section shall be tried in a judicial region other than where the official holds office." "That means, Mr. President, there is no jurisdiction. According to this, Capas, Tarlac does not have jurisdiction, and the Executive Judge is given the power to choose the nearest judicial region," Tolentino said. "I am stressing this [point], Mr. President, to highlight again that as of today, the Senate's warrant of arrest should be considered the only valid warrant of arrest, " he added. Birth certificate cancellation Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it had already "blocked" 1,500 birth registrations, including that of Guo. On Wednesday, Sen. Grace Poe led the hearing on the proposed 2025 budget of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), where she asked Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa, national statistician and civil registrar-general of the PSA, about the reported "birth certificate mill" in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. It allegedly produced 1,200 fraudulent birth certificates, mostly for Chinese nationals applying for late registrations. "In the previous months, the whole nation was shocked with a report of a birth certificate mill, particularly in one area Davao del Sur, which is said to have produced more than 1,200 fraudulent birth certificates," Poe said. Mapa said there were 1,634 local civil registrars, including the one in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. But these are not under the PSA. She said the PSA had already blocked 1,500 birth registrations, 18 of which were already brought to the Office of the Solicitor General for cancellation. One of them is the cancellation of Guo's birth certificate. Bribery offer Meanwhile, former senator Panfilo Lacson said that Guo tried to offer P1 billion to anyone in "high places" in government to help her fix her problems with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC). Lacson cited information from one of his Filipino Chinese friends who claimed to have connections to some personalities within the circle of the First Family. He said that Guo reportedly approached his friend to help her before she fled the Philippines in the middle of July, together with siblings Shiela and Wesley. Guo supposedly offered, through the trader, P1 billion in exchange for" assistance." Asked to elaborate, Lacson, in a text message, said "not in exchange for her escape--for her legal problems with PAOCC." Pressed whether the trader personally knows Alice, Lacson said, "Well, he showed us photos of him and Guo together in a private meeting as per his account. [It appears] they looked close." He said the intelligence community should dig deeper into the background and links of Guo since she is a "potential risk" to national security being Chinese.
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