Former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr., who personally led the mission that tracked and retrieved Alice Guo from Indonesia, hailed the Pasig court’s conviction of the former Bamban, Tarlac mayor for qualified trafficking.
The Pasig RTC found Guo guilty of criminal activities in relation to the illegal operation a POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
Abalos said the ruling confirms that months of coordinated operations by Philippine law-enforcement agencies to locate and bring Guo home ‘did not go to waste.’
Last year, when Guo surfaced in Indonesia after months in hiding, Abalos and then-PNP Chief Gen. Francisco Marbil immediately flew to Jakarta to secure her arrest and repatriation. The two top officials directly coordinated with senior Indonesian authorities, a move that eventually led to Guo’s return to the Philippines.
‘We worked with high-level Indonesian officials nonstop. The mission was simple: Bring her home to face the law, and we did,’ Abalos said.
A photo taken during the operation later drew criticism online due to Guo’s pose. Abalos clarified that the picture was part of standard documentation, and that Guo had asked to speak with authorities about alleged death threats at the time.
‘There were many photos taken that day. I did not even notice how she posed in that one viral shot,’ he said.
Abalos emphasized that today’s court ruling vindicates the DILG and the PNP:
‘This conviction shows we fulfilled our mandate, no bias, no favors, and saw the justice process through until the end.’