MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada revealed on Tuesday that dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo (real name: Guo Hua Ping) attempted to purchase a P95 million house in Baguio City.
This was raised in the Senate panel on women, children, family relations, and gender equality hearing shortly after Estrada quizzed Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Dong Calugay if he was familiar with Alphaland Mountain Lodge where his birthday celebration in August 2022 was held.
He turned to Guo to ask if she attempted to buy a house in Alphaland.
“Opo, pero hindi natuloy (Yes, but it did not push through),” Guo answered.
The senator then asked the ex-mayor how much the house was worth.
“Hindi ko po maalala. Hindi natuloy (I can’t remember. It did not push through),” Guo said. She also could not seem to remember when she attempted to buy the house.
Estrada proceeded to bare a detail of her purchase attempt.
“Papaalala ko sa’yo, November 10, 2022. Hindi natuloy. Bakit hindi natuloy?”
READ: Alice Guo, 35 others sued for P7-billion money laundering scheme
(I will remind you; November 10, 2022. It did not push through. Why did it not push through?)
Guo reiterated a couple of times that the transaction did not materialize. Her evasion of Estrada’s question on why it did not push through seemed to have irked the senator.
“Eh nagpupurchase ka. Nag-aapply ka na bibili ka ng bahay. Sabi mo hindi natuloy. Bakit nga hindi natuloy?”
(But you were purchasing it. You were applying to buy a house. You said it did not push through. So why did it not push through?)
Guo still did not answer the question.
“You signed an agreement on November 10, 2022, to purchase a log home worth, take note, P95,200,000 for a log home. Is it true?” Estrada asked.
Guo said that it was true.
When Senator Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the panel, proceeded to ask Guo for the reason why she did not purchase the log house, Guo said that it was due to lack of funds.
“But you attempted to buy, so may capacity ka (so you had the capacity) to buy a log home worth P95 million,” Estrada noted.
Furthermore, when Estrada asked the ex-mayor how much the down payment for the house was, Guo said that it was around 15 percent. She also said that she has plans to recover the down payment.
Senator Joel Villanueva then noted that the money used to fund Guo’s properties did not come from a legitimate transaction.
“It is crystal clear that ‘yung funds na fina-funnel, Madam Chair, ‘yung profit sharing between Lucky South 99 and Zun Yuan, pati ‘yung pagbili ng mga ari-arian ni alias Alice ay kitang-kita po natin kung saan nanggagaling. Hindi po sa legitimate business transaction,” Villanueva said.
In the same hearing, Hontiveros revealed that five more businesses appear to be registered under the names of Guo and Calugay, namely: AC Aquafarm, Dee Aqua Farm, Licsel Fish Farm, DongGuo Fish Farm, Guco Aquafarm.
Calugay denied the allegations that he has business ties with Guo. However, Estrada interjected to explain what seemed to be links of the businesses between the two.
READ: More firms tied to Alice Guo, Mayor Calugay unveiled in Senate probe
Guo and 35 others linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators were previously sued by the Anti-Money Laundering Council for 87 counts of money laundering.
Department of Justice Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Prosecutor Benjamin Samson said that the ex-mayor was the alleged “principal” of the money laundering scheme as she supposedly used “several entities in transferring her money.”