Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo is cited for contempt by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Monday, September 9, 2024, for lying and refusing to answer questions from senators about her identity. The former mayor faced the Senate panel after evading the arrest warrant issued by the Senate amid the probe into the reported criminal activities linked to offshore gambling, including her alleged involvement with Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs). Photo from Joseph B. Vidal/ OSP
MANILA, Philippines — Alice Guo (real name: Guo Hua Ping) said she was able to flee the Philippines last July with just the help of a foreigner.
At the resumption of the Senate committee on women and children’s inquiry into Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Monday, Guo repeatedly refused to give names of people who helped her leave the Philippines nearly two months ago despite an existing arrest order issued by the upper chamber and a lookout bulletin against her.
But panel head Sen. Risa Hontiveros and other senators present in the hearing compelled her to write the name of the main person or people who facilitated her escape – to which Guo complied.
After receiving the piece of paper where Guo wrote the name, Hontiveros, speaking in Filipino, asked the dismissed Bamban town mayor:
“No Filipino helped you? So the only person that you wrote on the paper was the only one who helped you?”
Guo nodded in response.
READ: Alice Guo reveals she fled Philippines aboard a yacht
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada then continued to quiz Guo, particularly asking if she was certain that no Filipino or Filipino government official helped her escape.
Guo replied, maintaining there was none, which annoyed Estrada.
“That’s impossible. It’s impossible that nobody helped you escape from the Philippines,” he said, speaking partly in Filipino.
“But there was really nobody,” Guo answered in Filipino.
At this point, Estrada divulged that the “facilitator” of Guo’s escape was a Chinese national.
“This Chinese must really be good — chartered a yacht, brought you wherever — Malaysia o Indonesia. This is the only person who facilitated [your escape] without the help of a Filipino?” Estrada said.
“No Filipino helped,” Guo insisted.
READ: ‘I am Alice Guo,’ insists ex-mayor when asked, ‘Are you Guo Hua Ping?’
Later into the hearing, Hontiveros bared that the name of the individual who helped Guo escape was already mentioned during the previous hearings of the Senate panel.
No other details were provided aside from Estrada’s revelation that the facilitator of Guo’s escape was in Taiwan and that the person had five passports.
“He’s a holder of a passport from [Saint] Kitts [and] Nevis, China, Cyprus, Dominica, and Cambodia. He’s a holder of five passports, and based [on] the information I received, he is now in Taiwan,” Estrada said.