Alice Guo (left) and Shiela Guo. Photo from Voltaire F. Domingo/ Senate Social Media Unit/FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines — The escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (real name: Guo Hua Ping) by sea remains a mystery for some senators.
At the resumption of the Senate committee on women’s hearing on Tuesday, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked how Alice and her two companions — Wesley and Shiela Guo — transferred from one boat to another when they fled for Malaysia in July.
READ: Shiela Guo confirms escaping PH with siblings Alice, Wesley via boat
Wesley and Shiela were earlier tagged as the siblings of the former mayor until Shiela later told the committee that Alice is not her biological sister.
“Yung bahagi ng kuwento mo na lumipat kayo mula sa small boat papunta sa big boat, paano kayo lumipat? Kasi hindi naman puwedeng mula sa small boat, lilipad kayo sa big boat pero nasa dagat kayo. So paano kayo lumipat from the small to the big boat?” Hontiveros asked .
(About the part of your story when you transferred from the small boat to the big boat, how did you transfer? Because it’s not possible to just fly from the small boat to the big boat while you’re at sea. So how did you transfer from the small boat to the big boat?)
“Meron kasing yung parang hagdanan na mahaba, paakyat po,” Shiela answered.
(There was a kind of long ladder, going up.)
Still responding to Hontiveros’ query, Shiela said the ladder came from the big boat.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada interjected and asked: “Ano yun, sa gitna ng dagat?”
(What is that, in the middle of the sea?)
When Shiela answered yes, Estrada asked: “Sa gitna ng dagat merong lumabas na ladder?”
(In the middle of the sea, a ladder appeared?)
“Opo. Yung galing sa malaki,” Shiela said.
(Yes. The one from the big boat.)
Shiela said although the sea was a bit rough during that time, they managed to transfer to the big boat.
“Sa gitna ng dagat?” Estrada asked again. “Pag nahulog dere-deretso sa tubig?”
(In the middle of the sea? If someone falls, do they go straight into the water?)
Shiela answered yes to both.
“May mountain climbing na nangyayari dito kung totoo yung kuwento mo, Ms. Shiela,” Hontiveros quipped.
(A mountain climbing is happening here if your story is true, Ms. Shiela)
In her previous testimony before the committee, Shiela claimed that from Alice’s farm in Bamban town, they were picked up by a van and traveled for five hours before arriving at a port at midnight.
From the port, they boarded a small white boat and traveled for hours, then transferred to a bigger boat where they spent three to five days, before boarding another small boat that ferried them to Malaysia.
Alice’s alleged ties to a Philippine offshore gaming operator hub in her town is the subject of the ongoing probe headed by Hontiveros.