Guo in Philippines custody, faces laundering, trafficking raps

MANILA, Philippines — Following her arrest in Indonesia, dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo was flown back to Manila last night.

Guo was accompanied by a top-level Philippine delegation led by Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos and Philippine National Police chief Rommel Francisco Marbil. Also present were officials of the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration and other government agencies.

Col. Jean Fajardo, the PNP’s public information officer, said Guo and the officials were on a chartered flight from Indonesia, which was expected to arrive late Thursday night at the Royal Star Aviation Hangar in Pasay City.

A holding area for medical examination and booking procedures awaited Guo.

“She will be brought to Camp Crame for temporary detention,” Fajardo said in a news briefing.

She said they are eyeing to turn over Guo to the Senate sergeant-at-arms today.

Abalos said Guo feared for her life and this forced her into hiding, and she even felt relieved when caught by authorities.

“When I talked to Alice, there seemed to be a sigh of relief. She recalled the hardships of hiding. Relief that it’s finally over,” Abalos said, adding that all steps are being taken to ensure Guo’s safety.

Officials on Wednesday announced Guo’s arrest in a hotel in Tangerang City in Indonesia’s Banten province – ending a months-long manhunt after the Senate issued an order for her arrest for skipping hearings on Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs).

Fajardo said Indonesian authorities turned Guo over to Philippine officials led by Abalos Thursday following a meeting on deportation procedures.

The police spokesperson added there is no problem should the NBI file a case against Guo for violation of immigration laws after an investigation found she escaped through the country’s backdoor.

Guo facing arrest over graft case

Apart from an arrest order from the Senate, Guo is facing a warrant of arrest for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The Capas, Tarlac Regional Trial Court Branch 109 has ordered the arrest of Guo for allegedly violating Section 3 (E) and 3 (H) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Judge Sara Vedana delos Santos set the bail at P90,000 for each charge.

The case is connected with allegations that Guo used her position as mayor to give favors to Baofu Land Development, which owns the property where an illegal POGO hub was raided by law enforcers. It means Guo has to first post bail before she is turned over to the Senate to appear at hearings.

Aside from the graft case, Guo is expected to face complaints for violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act in connection with the raided Bamban POGO hub.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue also filed a tax evasion case against Guo for her reported failure to pay P500,000 in capital gains tax on the purported sale of her shares in Baofu Land.

Guo, along with Whirlwind Corp. incorporator Cassandra Ong and 34 others are also facing money laundering charges before the Department of Justice in relation to their alleged links to illegal POGOs.

The beleaguered mayor is also facing a quo warranto petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General before a Manila trial court, which is seeking to remove her as Bamban mayor on the ground that she is a Chinese national and has misrepresented herself as a Filipino citizen “to advance her fraudulent schemes.”

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier ordered Guo’s dismissal from public office for grave misconduct.

In early July, the OSG also filed a petition before a Tarlac trial court seeking to cancel Guo’s birth certificate on the grounds of her failure to comply with the legal requirements of late birth registration.

According to DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano, Guo may also face charges of violation of immigration laws as well as charges of disobedience to summons for snubbing the Senate arrest warrant.

Wesley wants to surrender

Meanwhile, the Guos’ lawyer Stephen David said the alleged brother Wesley Guo is willing to surrender.

He refused to confirm information that Wesley may be hiding in Hong Kong.

“I cannot discuss the details. But he wants to surrender already. He doesn’t see the essence of hiding anymore,” David said.

Escape by boat questioned

Senators cast doubt on the story of Shiela Guo that they fled the Philippines for Malaysia by a series of boat rides last July.

During the Senate’s resumption of its investigation on Guo’s alleged illegal offshore gaming activities, Shiela stood by her story that she, Alice and Wesley Guo took three boat rides to get to Sabah. From Sabah, Shiela said they took two more airplane rides from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, and then to Indonesia where they went into hiding before being arrested by authorities.

But the senators took note of the perilous journey to go to Sabah, Malaysia by boat in July, when sea waters would have been too rough to allow a safe journey.

“It is difficult to believe that you will expose yourselves to a dangerous journey during monsoon season when the sea is rough,” Sen. Risa Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said she has credible information that the Sabah stamp in Shiela’s passport was fake.

It is more believable that the three boarded a private plane to escape to Malaysia, according to Sen. JV Ejercito. “I had doubts on Shiela’s narration that they used small boats to Sabah with choppy waters during monsoon season,” he said.

Lawyer Jerome Bomediano, National Bureau of Investigation-Organized and Transnational Crime Division chief, told senators about initial information that the three fled through the “southern backdoor.”

Pressed to identify their accomplices, Shiela said she does not know who helped them escape. She denied that they took a private plane.

Hontiveros scored the Bureau of Immigration for its failure to prevent the Guos from exiting the country’s ports to flee to Malaysia.

President Marcos has also scolded the BI for keeping him in the dark about the Guo’s escape.

BI intelligence chief Fortunato Manahan Jr. admitted the bureau may have been “compromised,” which allowed the Guos to escape.

Alleged links with Pangasinan mayor

Sual, Pangasinan mayor Liseldo Calugay was dragged in the controversy involving mayor Guo after his name was mentioned in the Senate investigation yesterday on Guo’s alleged illegal offshore activities.

Shiela Guo admitted that Alice had introduced her to the Pangasinan mayor at a restaurant in Dagupan before the pandemic.

But Shiela denied owning a certain “Alisel Aqua Farm” in Baquioen, Sual, despite a business certificate under her name shown during the hearing by Hontiveros.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian pointed out that the farm name “Alisel” is a conjugation of Mayors Guo and Calugay’s name.

During the hearing last May, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada hinted that mayor Guo has a romantic relationship with a certain Pangasinan mayor who also operated his own POGO. Mayor Guo denied it, saying she is single.

Calugay was invited to the hearing but he sent a letter instead saying he could not attend because he has dengue.

No job displacement from POGOs

There is still no mass displacement among POGOs despite the presidential directive to ban their operations, according to Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma.

Laguesma noted the Department of Labor and Employment is closely monitoring reports of displacement particularly in National Capital Region, where most internet gaming licensees are operating.

So far, Laguesma said the DOLE has already profiled over 20,000 POGO workers, most of which are employed in the administrative, finance and human resource departments and as encoders. – Mayen Jaymalin, Mark Ernest Villeza, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Daphne Galvez, Romina Cabrera