NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 04 June) – The new Senate President, Atty. Francis Escudero, in an interview said that the burden of proof rests on the accusers not on the accused, when asked of his view on the case of the controversial mayor of Bamban in Tarlac, Alice Guo.
He sounded cute and suave, but his opinion, however, is of “no moment” on the nationality or citizenship issue of the beleaguered Bamban mayor. Guo herself, and no one else, has to show convincing evidence, that she is a Filipino to justify her holding of a public office.
She has no accuser on the matter of her citizenship. No one has come in public to accuse that she is an alien, not a Filipino citizen. The burden of proof is on her. It is her obligation to prove and show to all and sundry that she is a Filipino.
Of course, Escudero’s opinion may apply on Alice Guo’s alleged involvement in the criminal POGO operation anent cyber scamming, websites hacking, human trafficking, illegal detention and torture.
Guo’s citizenship issue only surfaced serendipitously, when Senator Risa Hontiveros, Chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, investigated the POGO enclave in Bamban, which has been reported to host cybercriminal activities that include online scamming, gambling, and hacking of government websites using trafficked and illegally detained individuals of various nationalities.
The committee of Hontiveros is not accusing Guo as an alien but is determining her true citizenship.
Indeed, it is necessary and vital to dig deeper to know the truth because at stake here is public trust and national security.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. William R. Adan, Ph.D., is retired professor and former chancellor of Mindanao State University at Naawan, Misamis Oriental.)