Marcos to Alice Guo: Being evasive won’t help

Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping) speaks to the members of the media upon arrival from Indonesia on Friday, September 6, 2024. (Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Friday told dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping) to stop being evasive and address all the allegations against her, including her ties to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos).

Marcos made the call in an interview with Palace reporters where he was asked what he wanted to hear from Guo, who was arrested in Indonesia and arrived in Manila via a chartered flight early Friday morning. 

“I just hope she answers it better than her cohorts, sina Casandra Ong at si Sheila [Guo] very evasive makasagot,” said Marcos.

He warned Guo that not doing so would only make her situation worse.

“Sana naman mabuti-buti ang sagot ni Alice Guo as compared doon sa mga kasamahan niya because it will not help her at all to be evasive. Mas bibigat ang magiging problema niya kung hindi siya magsabi ng totoo,” he added.

(I hope Alice Guo’s explanations are better compared to her colleagues because it will not help her at all to be evasive. Her problems will worsen if she doesn’t tell the truth.)

Among the things Marcos said he wants to know from Guo is how exactly the Pogos in Bamban expanded into being a large criminal enterprise, and how she allegedly didn’t know about it.

“It’s very difficult to believe because as a former local government executive, it seems impossible that an operation that is what, a hundred meters away from my own office? [Tapos] hindi ko alam ‘yung nangyari doon, iligal na ganitong kalaki na operation? Sana maipaliwanag niya kung bakit hindi niya alam,” said Marcos.

(It’s very difficult to believe because as a former local government executive, it seems impossible that an operation that is, what, a hundred meters away from my own office? [Then] I don’t know what is happening there, such a large illegal operation? I hope she can explain how she wouldn’t know.)

“Paanong bilang isang mayor na hindi niya malaman kung ano nangyayari sa bayan niya na ganyan kalaki ang problema,” he added.

(How can a mayor not know that such a big problem is happening in his or her town?)

Marcos said he also wanted to know how Guo became wealthy and how she became mayor.

Guo left the Philippines with her supposed sibling Wesley Guo, along with Sheila Guo—previously tagged as her sister—and her business associate, Cassandra Li Ong in July.

In August, Sheila and Ong were arrested and detained in the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively.