House issues contempt order vs ‘evasive’ Alice Guo

BEFORE THE GRILLING STARTED Alice Guo (right) laughs while Whirlwind Corp. incorporator Cassandra Ong (left) does a face palm when lawmakers ask the former Bamban mayor whether she saw Ong exchange sweet looks with her boyfriend, Wesley, Guo’s brother. —LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — The House quad committee on Thursday cited dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, for contempt, triggering a possible tug-of-war over her custody with the Senate, which had ordered her arrest in July after imposing the same penalty against her.

During its sixth hearing into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), Guo irked lawmakers when she replied to most of their questions by invoking her right against self-incrimination, particularly when these involved her alleged companies, bank accounts, assets, and even childhood.

It was Guo’s very first appearance before the quad committee, which was investigating the links between illegal drugs, Pogos, and extrajudicial killings. The lower chamber is interested in her specifically because of her ties to its own key witness, Whirlwind Corp. incorporator Cassandra Ong, who is the girlfriend of Guo’s half-brother Wesley.

The final straw was when Nueva Ecija Rep. Emerson Pascual asked the former Bamban mayor why she did not post the P180,000 bail for two counts of graft she was facing before a Tarlac court. The case has since been transferred to Valenzuela City.

By not posting bail, Guo remained under the custody of the Philippine National Police instead of the Senate. The upper chamber issued the first-ever arrest warrant against her on July 10 after citing her for contempt when she repeatedly refused to attend its hearings.

Lawmaker’s query

“Your cases are bailable, right? Why haven’t you posted bail?” Pascual asked.

“Your Honor, we’re waiting for the results of the other cases,” Guo said.

“You’re not answering the query,” interjected Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano. “It’s just P180,000 and you didn’t post bail? This is a deliberate move from you to stay in the PNP. You would rather be detained there rather than the Senate.”

“You’re lying. The real reason why you didn’t [post] bail was because you wanted to stay in the PNP custodial center,” he added. “You have billions and then you couldn’t post a bail of P180,000? You’re fooling this country.”

Paduano—who is responsible for most of the contempt citations issued by the House under the 19th Congress—then moved to cite her for contempt. He also proposed that she be held at the Mandaluyong City women’s correctional center or the House detention facility, saying they could settle the jurisdictional issue with either the court or the Senate later.

Guo’s request

Just before this, Guo urged the panel to hold an executive session, promising to reveal how she managed to leave the country in July.

But quad committee chair and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers was hesitant to grant her request “if she would only use it for her safety.”

“But if she is willing to tell us all, including who is behind all the illegal Pogos, then we could consider [it,]” he said.

One of the sticking points during the hearing was when acting Bamban Mayor Leonardo Anunciacion alleged that Guo, as mayor, had personally asked the municipal council to pass a resolution endorsing the operating license of Pogo hub Zun Yuan Technology Inc. in their town back in 2023.

Confronted with this, Guo denied ever intervening for Zun Yuan, which was raided by authorities in March due to human trafficking and serious illegal detention.