Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo is cited for contempt by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Monday, September 9, 2024, for lying and refusing to answer questions from senators about her identity. The former mayor faced the Senate panel after evading the arrest warrant issued by the Senate amid the probe into the reported criminal activities linked to offshore gambling, including her alleged involvement with Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). Photo from Voltaire F. Domingo/ Senate Social Media Unit
MANILA, Philippines – “I am Alice Guo,” the dismissed mayor of Bamban town insisted as she was repeatedly asked at Monday’s Senate hearing if she was the Chinese woman “Guo Hua Ping.”
The Senate committee on women and children resumed its probe into Guo’s potential links to Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos). Guo appeared in the hearing Monday, following her arrest in Jakarta last September 4 by Indonesian authorities.
Guo maintained she is Filipino when confronted with information gathered and verified by senators and law enforcement agencies showing she is a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping.
“Madam chair, ako po si Alice Guo,” she insisted.
READ: Alice Guo cited for contempt anew at Senate hearing
For an hour since the public hearing started, senators led by panel head Sen. Risa Hontiveros have been trying to extract confirmation from Guo regarding her real identity, citing both her previous testimonies and several documents.
Hontiveros even repeatedly clarified to Guo that she wouldn’t incriminate herself if she answered the questions lodged by senators about her identity.
But this did not bend Guo, who continued to avoid answering the queries.
“May mga kaso na po na finile sa akin sa court kaya hindi ko po masagot sa inyo ngayon,” Guo said.
(There are cases filed against me in court so I can’t answer you right now.)
READ: Guo reveals she fled Philippines aboard a yacht
Hontiveros stressed that they have already proven that the mayor is not Alice Guo but Guo Hua Ping.
“Napatunayan na po namin na hindi kayo si Alice Guo at kayo ay totoong si Guo Hua Ping. Hindi lang ang komite ang umabot sa ganyang conclusion, ang National Bureau of Investigation mismo at isa pang ahensya,” the senator said.
(We have proven that you are not Alice Guo and that you are the real Guo Hua Ping. Not only the committee reached such a conclusion, even the National Bureau of Investigation and another agency.)
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) previously confirmed that Alice Guo and Guo Hua Ping’s fingerprints have matched.
“Ibig sabihin, they are the fingerprints of one and the same person. This confirms what I have suspected all along. Pekeng Pilipino si Mayor Alice — or should I say, Guo Hua Ping. She is a Chinese national masquerading as [a] Filipino citizen to facilitate crimes being committed by [Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators],” Hontiveros said before.