Chiz renews call to set up general aviation terminals

MANILA, Philippines —   With the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo apparently on a chartered flight, Senate President Francis Escudero renewed his call for the establishment of general aviation terminals, where customs and immigration could check aircraft catering, rented and exclusive flights.

Escudero said without general aviation terminals, persons like Guo – or Chinese national Guo Hua Ping – can slip in and out of the country without going through standard inspection by customs and immigration officials. He underscored the gap in the system that allows the wealthy to bypass the usual checks that ordinary citizens face.

“I have been asking CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) and DOTr (Department of Transportation) for a long time in relation to our lack of a general aviation terminal since the airport was invented in the Philippines,” Escudero said on the sidelines of the 30th Defense and Sporting Arms Show at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday.

Escudero expressed suspicion that Guo likely used a chartered plane to escape, though he acknowledged the myriad ways someone with means could leave the Philippines, given its archipelagic nature.

“That’s probably what she did. Unless she also took a ship,” the Senate President said, noting the various escape routes available to the well-connected.

“Without a general aviation terminal, individuals with private planes can bypass standard procedures, including inspections by customs and immigration,” he pointed out.

“Right now, anyone who has a private plane, those rich people, will just go to their hangar, send their passport, get it stamped, go to their lounge and get on the plane to leave. Landing back in the Philippines like this again,” Escudero lamented.

Budget cut

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada threatened to push for a cut in the intelligence funds of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for its failure to locate and arrest Guo.

Estrada said the PNP leadership should justify that the police force deserves the intelligence funds they have requested for 2025.

“That’s a big thing to focus on, I warned the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and PNP, their intelligence is weak since (the subject of a manhunt) remains free. Let’s cut their intel fund if they can’t track that person,” Estrada said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

Estrada also expressed belief that officials and personnel of the Bureau of Immigration and CAAP should be held accountable for the escape of Guo.