TRAVEL DOCUMENT This image from the Facebook page of Sen. Risa Hontiveros shows the Philippine passport of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and her travel details to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hontiveros on Monday said Guo, who was linked to a raided Pogo hub in her town, left the country on July 18.
MANILA, Philippines — No wonder authorities could not find dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, who has a standing arrest warrant from the Senate after she repeatedly refused to attend its hearings on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) activities.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros disclosed on Monday that Guo had already left the country for Kuala Lumpur on July 18 using her Philippine passport.
“I am now in receipt of information that, in fact, this person was already out of the country on July 18, 2024, to Kuala Lumpur. She entered [Malaysia] 12:17:13 … of July 18…,” she said in a manifestation during the Senate plenary session.
READ: Senate panel asks SC: Junk Guo bid vs arrest
“It cannot be denied that this is her because it matches her Philippine passport,” Hontiveros added, presenting an image of a document of Guo’s supposed entry to Malaysia and the latter’s Philippine passport.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday evening confirmed that Guo might have left the Philippines illegally without passing through the required checks of Philippine immigration authorities.
“We received intelligence information from our counterparts abroad that Guo illegally left for Malaysia [and] then flew to Singapore,” Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement, citing “very reliable sources.”
Guo reportedly flew to Singapore with Shiela Leal Guo and Wesley Leal Guo on July 21.
Tansingco clarified that while Guo was listed in the immigration lookout bulletin order (Ilbo) issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), her supposed departure was not recorded in the bureau’s system or centralized database.
“So far, we have not received any turnover or reports related to Guo from other agencies, including those manning our maritime borders,” the BI chief said.
Tansingco also disclosed that Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, one of Guo’s business associates and the named representative of the raided Pogo hub Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga, departed the Philippines as early as June 11, before the Ilbo was issued against them on Aug. 6.
He added that on Sunday, the group was tracked traveling to Indonesia.
The immigration chief emphasized that canceling Guo’s Philippine travel documents could expedite her extradition to the Philippines.
Corroborating the BI’s information, spokesperson Winston Casio of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, quoting “foreign counterparts’ immigration records,” said that Guo arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Denpasar, Indonesia, on July 18.
She then arrived in Singapore from Malaysia on July 21 and reached Batam, Indonesia, from Singapore via ferry on Aug. 18, Casio said in a message to reporters.
Probe accountability
Earlier, Hontiveros, citing information from her sources, said that after going to Malaysia, Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, went to Singapore to meet her father Guo Jian Zhong, mother Lin Wen Yi, brother Wesley Guo and Ong.
“Mr. President, who allowed this travesty to happen? Who is responsible for this?” she asked, stressing that Guo would not have been able to leave the country without the help of certain government officials.
“I have always believed that legislative hearings are policy-driven. That’s why when the President announced a ban [on Pogos], I said, we have done our jobs, let law enforcement take the lead,” she said.
Hontiveros was referring to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to ban all Pogos during his State of the Nation Address last month, directing the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to wind down their operations by the end of the year.
“But what if the law enforcement itself needs to be investigated? What if they dropped the ball? What if they are the ones that should be held responsible?” she asked.
She criticized the BI, which promised it would not let Guo slip out of the country.
“But then she’s already gone,” lamented Hontiveros.
“Mr. President, if we don’t do anything about this, as an institution, as a country, it’s like we’ve been allowed to be slapped by this foreigner, who has repeatedly violated our laws, policies and processes,” she stressed.
The DOJ earlier on Monday insisted that Guo was still in the country, saying there were no reports from the BI indicating any attempt by Guo to leave.
“In fact, she filed a motion for her case in the DOJ last Friday, to which she attached a counteraffidavit sworn before a Philippine notary public on Aug. 14,” Assistant Justice Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV told reporters in a Viber message.
Chartered
Hontiveros said there was no closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of Guo’s exit.
“Her image was not captured by CCTV. So she passed, or she could have been led to a spot, where her video image would not be captured,” she said.
Sen. Grace Poe urged aviation authorities to check their records for Guo’s supposed departure.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said Guo could have used a private plane.
“If you’re a passenger who wants to go abroad on a chartered plane, you will not go through the process. You will not go through immigration. You will go straight to the gate, in a limousine or SUV (sport utility vehicle). And when you arrive at the tarmac, you will board your plane, and then here [come] the customs, immigration, and quarantine [officials]. But if [they are] Alice Guo’s accomplice[s], it will be easy to get through because there is no CCTV where you are passing through,” he said.
“I am very sure that she [Guo] left on a chartered plane—through a private plane. So all we need to do is ask if we can trace the private plane or chartered plane that left that very day,” he added.
Tulfo earlier pushed for the establishment of a processing center for passengers on chartered and private flights, pointing out that these VIPs, as well as their luggage, do not undergo the regular screening process.
He said these flights were being abused by wealthy criminals, fugitives, and blacklisted individuals who come in and out of the country.