Senate subpanel questions BI delay in reporting Alice Guo’s escape from PH

Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz shares this undated photo, which, he says , shows dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with members of the media on Thursday, August 22, 2024. (Photo from PAOCC Usec. Gilbert Cruz)

MANILA, Philippines — A subcommittee in the Senate could not help but question the Bureau of Immigration (BI) why it did not immediately inform other law enforcement agencies that dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo had already left the Philippines.

Speaking before the Senate subcommittee on justice and human rights public hearing, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco confessed that they had already been informed on August 15 by the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Intel Group that Guo was able to flee the country.

Guo’s “escape” from Philippine jurisdiction was only made public on August 19 after Senator Risa Hontiveros made a privilege speech about the matter.

“We got the confirmations on 19th in the morning up to the 20th when all the information we got [was] validated already,” Tansingco confessed.

This prompted subpanel head Hontiveros to question why BI did not immediately inform the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the information they received.

“August 15 pero ‘di niyo sinabi agad sa DOJ na meron kayong ganyang information at mula sa PNP? Kasi ung DOJ, [sabi] nandito pa rin si Alice Guo noong August 19,” said Hontiveros.

(August 15th, but you did not immediately tell the DOJ that you have such information from the PNP? The DOJ insisted that Alice Guo was still in the Philippines on August 19.)

Tansingco, for his part, said they informed the DOJ and the Office of the Executive Secretary on August 20 when “there was already a confirmation and validation of the information that [was] coming in, considering that there [was] conflicting information” being fed to them.

“While in the process of doing that, your Honor made the manifestation in the Senate, and when we received the detailed report from our Intelligence Division and Fugitive Search Unit, we endorsed it to the Office of Executive Secretary and DOJ in the morning of August 20,” Tansingco insisted.

Still, Hontiveros pointed out that there should have been better and “more timely coordination.”

“Kasi lalo na pagkatapos ng manifestation ko, public na ‘yun — and ‘yun na nga sinabi ng DOJ na nandito pa si Alice Guo sa araw na ‘yun – hindi ba’t sana mas maigi kung ininform nyo sila sa information na meron ang BI mula pa sa PNP,” said Hontiveros.

(Especially after my manifestation, it’s already out in public, and at that time the DOJ insisted that Alice Guo is still in the country. Wasn’t it better if you had already informed them about the information that BI received from the PNP?)

Earlier, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said it appeared that some government agencies were aware — but chose to conceal for a while — that Guo had escaped the Philippines despite an existing arrest warrant and lookout bulletin.

He said he learned about it based on what he heard from some “spokespersons” of different government agencies that they already knew early on about Guo’s escape, but they chose to “validate” it first.

READ: Gatchalian: BI knew Guo gone, kept Marcos in the dark