Dismissed Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping, speaks to the members of the media in a press conference at Royal Star Aviation Hangar, Pasay City on Friday, September 6, 2024. —Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo will be grilled on Monday by the Senate on the Chinese bosses who invested in Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), her accomplices in government and the source of funding for Pogo hubs, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
“I believe Guo Hua Ping has all the information…. She knows this business and there are records and testimonies showing that she is an active participant in the Pogo hub. And that is what we want to know from her,” Gatchalian said in a radio interview on Sunday, referring to Guo by her Chinese name.
READ: Solon appeals to Guo, Ong to bare truth behind Pogo operations
He and Sen. Risa Hontiveros earlier presented biometric proof that Guo was a Chinese national who used the country’s late birth registration system to acquire official documents showing she was a Filipino citizen.
Gatchalian said he could not help but wonder whether or not the Chinese nationals linked to Guo or tagged as owners of Zun Yuan Technology Inc., the Pogo hub in Bamban, and the Porac, Pampanga, Pogo outfit Lucky South 99 “have already escaped or were allowed to escape.”
“With so many people arrested during raids, how come the ones missing were the masterminds? And since Guo Hua Ping is an elected official, she was easily arrested… but the others who could have been arrested and detained earlier remain scot-free,” he said.
“Did they manage to escape or were they made to escape? Were they given advance information so they could escape? We’re looking at these things. But I believe Guo Hua Ping knew something about this because she knows these people. Their business involved billions of pesos so it’s impossible she doesn’t know them well,” he added.
Masterminds left PH
Gatchalian noted that Chinese fugitive Huang Zhiyang, and Zhang Ruijin and Baoying Li, who were all allegedly connected to property developer Baofu Land Development Inc., had fled the country. The company had leased its land to the Bamban Pogo hub.
“All of them are not in the Philippines anymore. We saw the flight records, they have left,” he said. “It is disappointing; we know that these are the masterminds.”
He added that Zhang and Baoying were both allegedly involved in the biggest money laundering case in Singapore.
Other Chinese personalities who had earlier been mentioned in connection with Pogos or with Guo were Jiang Jie, said to be her business partner; Guo’s father Guo Jian Zhong; her suspected mother Wen Yi Lin; Cassandra Li Ong, a stakeholder in Whirlwind Corp., the service provider for Lucky South; and Ong’s godfather, former Chinese police officer and Whirlwind’s “big boss” Duanren Wu.
Cohorts in gov’t
Gatchalian said he also intended to ask Guo about her alleged accomplices in government, “whether elected or enforcement agency.”
“During our executive session, it was revealed that there was an apparent connivance between politicians and enforcement agencies,” he said.
“And again, Guo Hua Ping is at the center of these illegal activities. She knows who she is talking to. We have information that even before she became a mayor, she had been talking to several high-ranking officials and that’s what we want to know,” he added.
Asked if he expected Guo to cooperate during the hearing, Gatchalian replied: “It’s the end of the road for her.”
“She has reached the end, so to speak, where the consequence awaiting her is imprisonment. If she tells all, somehow she’ll be able to help the government in fighting crimes,” he said.
“I’ve seen the list of cases against her. This is the first time I’ve seen a person slapped with so many charges. Her resources will run out, her money and time, in fighting these cases,” he added.
Not absolute
Gatchalian also pointed out that invoking one’s right against self-incrimination or remaining silent has its limits.
“It’s not absolute. It’s still important for her to answer the questions of the senators. The Supreme Court already has a ruling that it cannot be invoked at all times,” he said.
Other questions the Senate has for Guo are the source of money for Pogo hubs and how she, her siblings Shiela Guo and Wesley Guo, and Ong managed to escape.
“There are still many loose ends… According to Shiela, she was just following Guo Hua Ping, so it appears that she’s the mastermind of their escape. We’ll ask her how they did it and who helped them. It’s impossible that they just boarded a boat and they ended up in Malaysia or Indonesia. I’m sure somebody helped them,” he said.