FILE PHOTO: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.says he now has a “very good idea” about who to fire in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the escape of Alice Guo and her party. MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. now has a “very good idea” about people to fire in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the escape of Alice Guo and her party.
On the sidelines of an oath-taking ceremony for new officers of various media groups on Tuesday, Marcos was asked about whose heads should roll concerning the secret departure of Guo and others, to which he replied:
“Very very good idea, I have a very good idea.”
Pressed if the personnel are from the BI, he said: “From BI, yeah.”
READ: Marcos on Alice Guo’s departure: ‘Heads will roll’
Marcos did not give specific names, noting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is still in the “last part” of a “very thorough investigation” to identify people who helped Guo and others leave the country last month amid government investigations on her and her links to Philippine offshore gaming operators.
“That’s what the last part of this investigation is – how far, how deep does it go, isa lang bang tao ang involved o marami sila, sindikato [ba] ito (is there only one person involved or are there many, is this a syndicate)? That’s what we’re looking for,” the president said.
“There are no sacred cows,” he added.
Marcos kept in the dark
Marcos also confirmed Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s claim that the BI did not let the president know aboout Guo’s departure in July.
READ: Gatchalian: BI knew Guo gone, kept Marcos in the dark
“Oh yes, definitely,” Marcos said when asked if the BI purposely kept him in the dark regarding Guo’s escape.
It was Senator Risa Hontiveros who first revealed that Guo was already out of the Philippines on July 18. The BI eventually confirmed the revelations of Hontiveros.
However, Gatchalian disclosed that even before Hontiveros divulged the July escape of Guo and others during her privilege speech at the Senate on August 19, immigration authorities already knew that Guo and her three siblings already slipped out of the country.
Gatchalian even said that Marcos “was kept in the dark” by the BI.