Sen. Risa Hontiveros (left) and Alice Guo. Screenshot from Senate of the Philippines/YOUTUBE
MANILA, Philippines — Did former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (real name: Guo Hua Ping) escape on her own, or did someone “initiate” it for her?
This question reverberated on Monday as senators quizzed Guo about how she, along with her alleged siblings Shiela and Wesley, managed to escape to Malaysia in July.
Alice first confirmed Shiela’s previous testimony that they traveled by sea.
According to Alice, they first boarded a yacht in an unspecified port in Metro Manila and traveled for a few hours before transferring to a big boat where they stayed in a room for three to five days.
READ: Alice Guo reveals she fled Philippines aboard a yacht
From the big boat, they transferred to another boat that ferried them to Malaysia.
“Actually, once we were on the big ship, to be honest, if it were possible to go back, I would have. It was really scary,” Alice said in Filipino during the hearing of the Senate committee on women.
“It was really quite scary. I wanted to go home. I wanted to go back,” she added.
But why didn’t she do it? Hontiveros asked her.
“That’s just it. I really did make a mistake there,” the dismissed mayor answered.
Senators took turns to press Alice to identify those who helped her escape but she only agreed to write a name on a piece of paper on the condition that the committee would not disclose it.
“Tumakas ka ba o itinakas ka?” Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla later asked Alice.
[Did you escape, or were you taken away?]
“He initiated it,” Alice said.
Sen. Joel Villanueva followed up on Revilla’s questioning by asking the former mayor if it was her or her cohort’s decision to leave the Philippines.
“At first, he made the decision for me. The second time, because I heard and learned more, I became really scared,” she said.
She was apparently referring to her alleged death threats, which she repeatedly invoked to some of the questions asked during the hearing.
Villanueva asked again if the name of the person she wrote on the paper orchestrated her escape.
“I don’t have a boss. I’m also not the big boss of Bamban,” Alice said.
The dismissed mayor was arrested in Indonesia on September 4 and is now detained at the Philippine National Police’s custodial center.
The Senate issued the arrest order after Alice repeatedly failedto attend in the panel’s probe into Philippine offshore gaming operators.
READ: Tarlac court issues warrant of arrest vs Alice Guo
Following her arrest, a Tarlac court issued another warrant of arrest against Alice for alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.