MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice has long been aware of and investigating allegations that dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo offered money to certain individuals to help clear her name.
This was Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s response when asked for an update on Guo’s case on Thursday.
READ: Alice Guo allegedly offered Lacson’s pal P1B to help her
“‘Yung sinasabi ni [former] Senator [Panfilo] Lacson, pini-pursue na namin ‘yan dati pa. We’re aware. There’s more to it than meets the eye,” he said in an ambush interview on Thursday.
(What former Senator Panfilo Lacson is saying, we’ve been pursuing that for a while now. We’re aware. There’s more to it than meets the eye.)
Remulla was referring to Lacson’s revelation in a radio interview on Wednesday that Guo was allegedly willing to pay P1 billion to make all her troubles go away.
“Noong medyo ipit na ipit na at nagtatago na yata, medyo komontak sa kanya through a common friend siguro at ang sabi sa kanya kung mailalapit niya si Alice Guo sa kanyang contact,” Lacson said over Radyo 630, citing his Filipino-Chinese friend who was purportedly offered the money by Guo before she fled the country in July.
(When things were getting really tight and she was probably hiding, she somewhat got in touch with him, maybe through a common friend, and was told that if he could introduce Alice Guo to his contact.)
Lacson later clarified in a message to INQUIRER.net that the money was not in exchange for her escape but for her legal problems with the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and others.
READ: Alice Guo’s answers in Senate probe raise more questions, says Remulla
In the ambush interview, Remulla also said: “Malalim siya eh, malalim ang kanyang laro eh, and very sophisticated ang laro niya. Maybe she’s just extremely talented, pero hindi siya ordinary felon eh.”
(It’s deep, her game is deep, and her game is very sophisticated. Maybe she’s just extremely talented, but she’s not an ordinary felon.)
Asked how much money is involved in protecting Guo, Remulla guessed it might be billions.
“I have no idea but I guess it would be in the billions, marami siyang support na talagang…ewan ko kung saan nanggagaling,” he said.
(She has a lot of support that’s really… I don’t know where it’s coming from.)