Guo on photo with ex-president Duterte: I met him after his term

Alice Guo (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines— Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo (real name: Gua Hua Ping) claimed she had only met former President Rodrigo Duterte once and when he was no longer president, as shown in a photo that previously circulated online.

Guo talked about the photo with the former president as Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa disclosed an alleged attempt to implicate him, Duterte, and others in illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo).

All these transpired at Tuesday’s investigation of the Senate committee on women into illegal Pogos.

During the hearing, textbook scam suspect Mary Ann Maslog disclosed an alleged “communication” from an ALG, which she believes is an initial of the ousted mayor.

This communication supposedly contains names of other people allegedly involved in Pogos.

When senators pressed to identify the names in the communication, Maslog wrote “Faeldon” on a piece of paper, which senators surmised was about Duterte’s former customs chief, Nicanor Faeldon.

According to Maslog, she got the information about Faeldon from Guo herself, whom she visited twice at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center.

Maslog said Guo also mentioned to her an alleged invitation to go to Davao, the home province of the Dutertes.

But Guo was in “disbelief,” as noted by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

The former mayor explained that one of the things that she and Maslog had talked about was her picture with Duterte and other personalities, which included Faeldon.

“Yun po isang napagkwentuhan namin,” she said. That’s my first time na nakita ko pa ng former president dun sa group picture na yan na circulating. That’s the first time na nakita ko po sya,” Guo said.

(That’s one of the things we talked about. That’s the first time I saw the former president in that group picture that’s circulating. It’s the first time I’ve seen him.)

“At yung picture na yun ay nag-iisang picture lang po yun, July 22, to be exact, 2022. Hindi na po presidente si former president that time,” she stressed.

(And that picture is the only one [taken on] July 22—to be exact— 2022. The former president was no longer in office at that time.)

Guo denied the invitation to Davao, adding that she does not even know anyone there.

Earlier in the hearing, Maslog claimed that she was tapped by the PNP’s Intelligence Group to help in Guo’s surrender supposedly because of her friendship with Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay.

According to Maslog, Calugay was said to have had a relationship with the former mayor

Guo fled the country in July after she was held in contempt and ordered arrested by the Senate for her repeated failure to face its probe into her alleged links to a Pogo hub in her town.

The former mayor was arrested in Indonesia last Sept. 4.