Alice Guo no longer in PH — Hontiveros
Metro Manila, Philippines – Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo has left the country undetected on July 18 despite an immigration lookout bulletin against her for alleged involvement in an illegal online gaming in her town, a lawmaker said on Monday, Aug. 19.
In a privilege speech, Senator Risa Hontiveros presented a document from Malaysia confirming that Guo arrived in Kuala Lumpur on 12:17 pm of that day.
“Hindi po pwede ipagkaila na siya ito dahil po match na match po ito sa kanyang Philippine passport na ifaflash ko ngayon,” she added.
[Translation: It cannot be denied that this is her because this matches her Philippine passport that I will show on screen now.]
Citing a source, Hontiveros said Guo proceeded to Singapore where she met her parents Lin Wen Yi and Guo Jian Zhong.
“Who allowed this travesty to happen? Sino ang may kagagawan nito? Hindi makakaalis si Alice Guo kung walang tumulong sa kanya na mga opisyales ng pamahalaan,” Hontiveros said.
[Translation: Who is responsible for this? Alice Guo cannot leave without help from government officials.]
In multiple instances, the Bureau of Immigration said it had no records of Guo leaving the country. She apparently left just days after the Senate ordered her arrested for snubbing its summons and subpoena for its probe on illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations.
Did Guo slip past Immigration?
On the other hand, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking Hontiveros’ exposé with a grain of salt.
“As far as we know, Mayor Guo is still in the country. There has been no report to us of an attempted departure from the Bureau of Immigration,” DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano told reporters in a Viber message.
“[T]here have been reported sightings from law enforcement agencies (LEAs) after July 18, 2024,” he added.
He added that Guo filed a motion for her human trafficking complaint at the Justice Department, which contained a counter affidavit sworn before a notary public on Aug. 14.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the lawyer, Elmer Galicia, claimed that Guo personally appeared before him to notarize the document.
“Either siya ay nagsisinungaling at walang personal appearance o talagang balik-labas, balik-labas ng ating bansa na lumalagpas sa Bureau of Immigration (si Guo),” Gatchalian said.
[Translation: Either he is lying about the personal appearance or Guo has been leaving and entering the country without the knowledge of the Bureau of Immigration.]
Hontiveros, who is leading the probe, said Galicia will be invited to the next hearing.
Lawmakers could only suspect how Guo could leave the Philippines.
Senator Raffy Tulfo said she surely left via charter plane, while Senator Jinggoy Estrada said she probably did so from smaller airports and not the NAIA.
Senator Migz Zubiri said the Senate should subpoena documents from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, stressing that pilots should disclose all passengers in the flight manifest.
