ERMITA, Manila — The defense of beleaguered former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and other respondents that they didn’t recruit, didn’t harm, didn’t torture or commit any other human trafficking offenses will not hold water before the court because individuals who organize an establishment that engaged in human trafficking may be held accountable under local laws.

This was the rationalé of justice undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty as Department of Justice (DoJ) prosecutors approved the filing of qualified human trafficking charges against the dismissed mayor Alice Guo and several others involved in the operation of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Bamban and Porac, Pampanga and possibly other places in the country.

According to Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio, they will file the information against Guo and others in Capas, Tarlac next week.

Ty clarified that “as long as it is shown that (an individual) has a connection to the establishment or organization of a company involved in human trafficking, (the person) can be charged with human trafficking.”

Aside from Guo, Ty said the justice department will also file charges against Zhang Ruijin, Lin Baoying and Huang Zhiyang, whom the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) had identified as the so-called ‘boss of all bosses’ of illegal POGOs in the country.

Also to be included in the charge sheet are former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) deputy director general Dennis Cunanan, as well as the agency’s other incorporators, according to Ty.

In support, Casio pointed out that the trafficking in persons would not have actually occurred if Guo’s ‘foreign financiers’ and ‘partners’ did not come into the picture and enabled her to do so through their finances.

“(It’s) very important na makasuhan din sila,” Casio cited even as Ty declined to name all respondents because this could prompt them to run from the law and go into hiding.

“We won't reveal everything yet because there's a risk, in case they find out they're included in the charges and haven't been listed in the ILBO (immigration lookout bulletin order) issued by justice secretary Jesus Crispin ‘Boying’ Remulla to the BI (Bureau of Immigration),” the undersecretary stressed.