Proceeding against doubtful representations

DURING investigations of high-profile cases or in congressional hearings on matters of transcendental importance, lawyers stand out to defend and protect the rights of their clients.

For the escape of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, or Gou Hua Ping, who faces multiple counts of money laundering, human trafficking and other serious crimes, two of her lawyers found themselves in the proverbial hot seat. Lawmakers from both chambers of Congress who are conducting a probe into the legal controversies implicating the erstwhile mayor see lawyers Stephen David and Elmer Galicia as parties in concealing the fact that their client has already fled the country. The former made representations in several media interviews that Guo is still in the country, while the latter asserted that the dismissed mayor personally appeared before him on August 14 to swear to the veracity of the statements in her counter affidavit.