Mugshot of Zhang Mier, also known as Shiela Guo, the supposed sister of dismissed Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac. — Photo from the Bureau of Immigrations.
MANILA, Philippines — It’s “too early to tell” whether or not Shiela Guo could be a state witness against her supposed sister, dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Thursday.
According to Gatchalian, if Shiela will be a state witness against Alice, she must divulge all information and tell the truth about the dismissed mayor’s wrongdoings, especially Alice’s role in the proliferation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos).
“Pero tingin ko magiging mahirap yan dahil unang-una, yung abogado ni Guo Hua Ping, a.k.a. Alice Guo, at abogado niya pareho. So, ang hinala ko dyan, si Guo Hua Ping pa siguro ang nagbabayad ng abogado niya. So, mahirap naman na magsabi siya ng impormasyon laban kay Guo Hua Ping, pero si Guo Hua Ping naman nagbabayad ng abogado niya. Kasi, iisa lang yung kanilang abogado,” Gatchalian said in the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
(But I think that would be difficult considering that Guo Hua Ping a.k.a. Alice Guo and Shiela’s lawyer is the same person. So my gut feeling is that it’s Guo Hua Ping who’s paying for Shiela’s legal counsel. It will be hard for Shiela to disclose information against Alice if it’s Alice who is paying for her lawyer.)
Gatchalian also said that it’s too early to tell whether Shiela is fit for the role, noting that they have yet to determine if she is telling complete and accurate information about Alice’s Pogo links and their escape from the Philippines.
“Maaga pa para sabihin kung … puwede siya maging state witness kasi hindi siya nagsasabi ng kumpletong detalye. Base kasi sa dokumento at ipinakita nga natin na sentro siya doon sa mga aktibidad at sa mga pinirmahan niyang mga dokumento. So, just based on the documents alone, meron siyang alam. Pero kung gaano kalalim yung alam niya, yun ang maaga pa para masabi ngayon,” he explained.
(It’s too early to tell if she can be a state witness because she’s not disclosing the full extent of what she knows. Based on existing documents, she is at the center of the activities and she also signed these documents. So just based on the documents alone, she knows something. But about how deep her knowledge is, that’s too early to tell as of now.)
A document shared by Gatchalian’s office showed that Shiela served as the corporate secretary and treasurer to some of Alice’s corporations. Shiela earlier claimed that she only managed her family’s embroidery business.
“So ibig sabihin, sa documents alone, sentro siya sa aktibidad ng Guo-family. Sentro siya sa negosyo, sentro siya sa mga financial transactions nila,” Gatchalian said.
(So that means based on the documents alone, she’s at the center of the activities of the Guo family. She’s at the center of business, she’s at the center of financial transactions.)
READ: Arrest Alice Guo, others – Senate
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said Shiela is too unreliable to be a state witness.
“Hindi ako naniniwala kay Shiela. Hindi ako naniniwala sa kanyang mga sinasabi. Puro I don’t know tapos puro malalabo ang sagot. Unang una, hindi ako naniniwala [na] si Alice Guo sasakay ng fishing boat ng tatlong araw para makarating sa Sabah,” Remulla told reporters then.
(I don’t believe Shiela. I don’t believe what she said. She kept on saying I don’t know and she kept on giving vague answers. First of all, I don’t believe that Alice would ride a fishing boat for three days to reach Sabah.)
He was pertaining to Shiela’s earlier statement that she, Alice, and Wesley Guo fled the Philippines via a small white boat. She said they rode a total of three boats — one big and two small – to go to Malaysia.