Sherwin Gatchalian and Alice Guo
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has warned dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo that she will be transferred to a regular detention cell if she evades the queries during the next Senate hearing on her alleged link to a raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Gatchalian said one of the questions that he wants to ask Guo is who helped her establish the Bamban Pogo.
“Hindi kami papayag na hindi siya magsalita. Tatagal siya dito at we will transfer her to a regular detention cell. Hindi na siya dito (Senate) sa ating detention cell, baka i-transfer na siya sa correctional [facility]. So hindi kami papayag na mag e-evade pa siya [sa] tanong,” he said.
(We will not allow her to evade our questions. She will stay here for a long time and we will transfer her to a regular detention cell. She wouldn’t be in the Senate detention cell and she may be transferred to a correctional facility. We will not allow her to evade our questions.)
“Naloko na tayo noong una [gamit] ang kanyang farm story. Itong pangalawa hindi na tayo magpapaloko,” he added.
(We have been fooled by her farm story. We will not be fooled the second time around.)
Guo was arrested in Tangerang City, Jakarta, Indonesia at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice, citing information from Senior Superintendent Audie Latuheru of the Indonesian Police.
Guo has an arrest order from the Senate for refusing to appear, despite due notices, at the committee on women’s hearing on July 10.
She has been the subject of scrutiny after the Senate panel on women bared her ties to raided Pogo firm Zun Yuan Technology Inc. in Bamban.
Questions about her citizenship were also raised, leading to allegations that she is a Chinese spy, which she vehemently denied.
The NBI, however, earlier confirmed that she and Chinese national Guo Hua Ping are one.
READ: Arrest Alice Guo, others – Senate
Earlier, the Philippine National Police said they are aiming to bring her back to the Philippines on Sept. 4 or just hours after her arrest in Indonesia.
The Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms said Guo would be processed by the Bureau of Immigration, transferred to the NBI, and then turned over to the Senate like what was done to Shiela Guo, the supposed sister of the dismissed mayor.
They are likely to share the same detention room in the Senate.
READ: Alice Guo arrested in Indonesia – DOJ, NBI