Cassandra Li Ong offered immunity, cited in contempt

MANILA, Philippines — The quad committee of the House of Representatives is eyeing Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, an incorporator of Whirlwind Corp., as a state witness in the panel’s ongoing probe on Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) activities in Porac, Pampanga.

Whirlwind Corp. had leased a land to Lucky South 99, where Ong is a consultant. Police raided the POGO in June for various violations.

According to committee co-chair and dangerous drugs panel head Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the panel discussed and agreed that the involvement of Ong in Lucky South 99 is “deep.”

Ong testified in Wednesday’s hearing of quad committee on POGO but she refused to answer most of the questions raised by lawmakers.

She told the panel that her involvement was mostly on the real estate business of Whirlwind which rents out office spaces for POGO hubs, including Lucky South 99.

Ong admitted that she is in a relationship with Wesley Guo, the brother of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and Shiela Guo.

Ong said she went to Singapore and then to Malaysia to meet her boyfriend and his siblings. She joined the Guo siblings then traveled to Batam, Indonesia, where she and Shiela were accosted by authorities and deported to the Philippines.

Committee chair and public safety and order panel head Rep. Dan Fernandez tried to offer Ong to speak in an executive session but she said she would consult her lawyers.

Fernandez also offered “immunity” to Ong but she again said she would seek legal counsel.

“What we’re trying to offer to you is something that you have really to think over. Because we talked about this earlier, you are really young to be jailed. This will have no bail. This means, once they filed it, then you cannot go out of jail. I hope you take this chance,” he added.

Lawmakers tried to dig deeper, but Ong clammed up.

This prompted committee co-head and human rights panel chair Rep. Benny Abante to move for Ong to be cited in contempt again. Ong will be held at the House detention facility until her contempt citation is lifted.

State witness

During an interview with “Storycon” on One News on Thursday, Barbers said lawmakers are open to the possibility of tapping Ong as state witness in the ongoing probe into illegal POGOs.

“We offered to her the possibility of becoming a state witness,” Barbers confirmed in Filipino. “But we need to assess first the value of what she will reveal during an executive session. She has not revealed anything so far because we need to call for an executive session first.”

Barbers said they offered Ong the possibility of becoming a state witness following indications that she is willing to cooperate with their probe.

“We can see that she is willing to talk, but she appears hesitant… That’s why we offered to conduct an executive session and told her, ‘if what you tell us is helpful in our investigation, then we will recommend you to become a state witness so you can have immunity from prosecution,’” he said.

The House has yet to schedule an executive session with Ong.

Liars, swindlers

Dismissed mayor Alice Guo and her family members appeared to be professional liars and professional swindlers, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday after Shiela Guo testified before the Senate committee investigating their escape.

“We have to be very careful with the Guo family as they seem to be professional liars and professional swindlers. Guo Hua Ping said she was home-schooled, simple, and innocent, but according to the documents and evidence, she is not like that. She is much more sophisticated. Her (Shiela Guo) demeanor tells us one part but look at the evidence. Evidence shows she is not innocent because she is signing a document,” Gatchalian said during the Kapihan sa Maynila forum.

“The narrative is the same in this family. Shiela’s narrative is like that of Guo Hua Ping, but we cannot take it hook, line and sinker,” he said.

The senator pointed out that Shiela Guo’s story was inconsistent with her life as simple and she only knows embroidery.

But based on documents obtained by Gatchalian’s office, the Guo family has 10 corporations and Shiela Guo signed as corporate secretary in nine of them while she was finance officer and treasurer in other companies, signing 93 times in various documents.

“So how can Shiela Guo claim that she doesn’t know anything and that her life is simple if she holds a high position in their companies?” he said.

Malicious, defamatory

Meanwhile, Senators Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa described as “malicious and defamatory” the allegations of police colonel Jovie Espenido of their involvement in the Duterte administration’s drug war.

Espenido told the House of Representatives quad committee that the money from POGOs, small town lottery and intelligence funds were allegedly used as a reward for police officers involved in the drug war.

Go denied that reward money was coursed through him. He said such misinformation was part of a conspiracy that some lawmakers are cooking up.

“This is another part of the zarzuela some people are cooking up to politicize and malign – trying to invent a story that will line up with their narrative to paint us black and them white! I can categorically say, I have never had anything to do with any POGO and what he says is the reward system in the drug war,” he noted.

Go insisted that when he was special assistant to former president Rodrigo Duterte until he became a senator, he did not receive or handle any funds from POGO or any gambling. The senator maintained that the fight against drugs was done to protect Filipinos.

He added he would not hesitate to file a case against anyone who accuses him and malign his name without evidence. –  Cecille Suerte Felipe, Janvic Mateo