‘Boss of all POGO bosses’ facilitated Alice Guo escape – Estrada

Metro Manila, Philippines – The Chinese national who facilitated former Mayor Alice Guo’s escape from the country in July is the mastermind behind Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), a lawmaker said on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

Pressed by senators, Guo wrote down the person’s name during a hearing of the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality on Monday.

Guo said the person arranged for her and her supposed siblings, Shiela and Wesley, to travel by yacht from a port in Metro Manila. They later on transferred to a ship at an undisclosed location and eventually boarded a small boat to Malaysia.

“He is a Chinese national and allegedly, based on reports I have received, he fled the country. He is now in Taiwan,” Estrada, who saw Guo’s scribbling on paper, told reporters on Tuesday.

“I heard that he is the boss of all the bosses of POGO,” he added.

Estrada earlier said this person holds a total of passports from the following countries: Saint Kitts and Nevis, China, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, and Cambodia.

Guo previously said the foreign national initiated her escape, and she complied after receiving a death threat. She later said this person eventually threatened her.

Estrada said he suspects the POGO boss wanted Guo out of the country to protect himself.

He did not name names, and said he would defer to the committee chairperson, Senator Risa Hontiveros, to make the disclosure.

Hontiveros has confirmed that the name was mentioned in the committee hearing.

Guo’s lawyers have asked for a closed-door hearing for her security. She has repeatedly denied any hand in illegal POGOs despite a P6.1-billion POGO hub in her locality.

“Our committee has not seen any reason to believe that Guo Hua Ping will provide us with factual, valuable, and reliable information to convince us to agree to an executive session,” Hontiveros said.

She said Guo could not even admit that she is Chinese national Guo Hua Ping despite their fingerprints matching.

“If she cannot even tell the truth about her identity, why should we believe everything else that comes out of her mouth? Magpakatotoo siya sa susunod na pagdinig, at baka sakali maniwala kaming magpapakatotoo din siya sa isang executive session [She should be truthful in the next hearing, and we may just be convinced that she would also be truthful in an executive session],” Hontiveros said.

The next hearing is set for Tuesday, Sept. 17.

“I will subscribe to the wisdom of the members of the Senate but at the same time I also wanted to find out ano yung this time gustong sabihin nitong puganteng ito (what this fugitive wants to say this time),” Senator Joel Villanueva said.