MANILA, Philippines – Wearing a bullet-proof vest and a helmet, ousted mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac returned to the Senate, the same chamber that exposed her fake identity and ties with illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs in Central Luzon.
Guo arrived an hour ahead of the 10 am scheduled Senate hearing on Monday, September 9. She was heavily guarded by the Philippine National Police (PNP) — as if she was a star witness of the day’s probe, and did not escape Philippine authorities in July.
“Kumpirmado na po ng National Bureau of Investigation na siya si Guo Hua Ping, isang Chinese national na pumasok dito noong 2003. Ibig sabihin humarap siya sa atın sa Senado at tahasang nagsinungaling. Ibig sabihin, humarap siya sa mamamayan ng Bamban at tahasang nagsinungaling,” Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee conducting the probe, said, as she opened the almost six-hour long inquiry on Monday. Hontiveros heads the committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality.
(According to the NBI, it is confirmed that she is Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national who entered the country in 2003. This means that when she appeared before the Senate, she was outright lying. It also means that when she faced the people of Bamban, she was outright lying.)
She added: “This is why iyong tila celebrity treatment sa kanya ay di katanggap-tanggap. ‘Wag po tayong papabola. ‘Wag po tayo magpauto.” (This is why the apparent celebrity treatment accorded her is unacceptable. Let’s not be fooled. Let’s not be deceived.)
It was Hontiveros who exposed Guo’s real identity after she requested the NBI to compare the dismissed mayor’s fingerprints to those of a certain Chinese national, Guo Hua Ping, confirming that the two are one and the same person.
‘I invoke my right against self-incrimination’
Senators spent an hour at the start of the probe asking Guo about her real identity so they could hear it straight from her. Despite records and documents that indicated she is Chinese, Guo told Hontiveros: “Hindi ko po alam paano nangyari. Pero ako po si Alice Guo.” (I don’t know how it happened. But I am Alice Guo.)
She refused to respond to further questions regarding her identity, citing her pending court cases and invoking her right against self-incrimination. It was expected from the get-go that she would use this as an excuse to evade the Senate’s scrutiny, as she opted to be detained at the custodial center of the Philippine National Police.
All other suspected offenders who had faced the Senate in the past — like pork-barrel scam queen Janet Napoles, who was later convicted of bribery and money laundering, among others — had used the same script.
Senators also pressed Guo about her supposed death threat, which she told Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos about when she was captured in Indonesia last September 5.
“Sino ang nagbabanta sa ‘yo (Who is threatening you)?” asked Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada. But Guo refused to respond, saying that she fears for her safety if she were to reveal the name publicly. She then asked for a closed-door session with senators, which was eventually denied.
“Ang problema kasi is kung ‘yung death threat na ‘yan ay totoo o hindi dahil ayaw niyang magsalita,” said Senator Joel Villanueva. (The problem is whether that death threat is real or not, because she refuses to answer.)
As a compromise, Guo agreed to write the name of someone who turned out to be the same person who helped her escape. It wasn’t revealed during the hearing what name Guo wrote on the sheet of paper given to her. Estrada, however, hinted at the person’s possible identity, saying that the subject, according to information he had received, is in Taiwan possessing as many as five passports.
Just a ‘friend’
At the center of the Senate probe was also Guo’s alleged link to Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Dong Calugay. She denied having a romantic relationship with Calugay. However, several photographs of them together, which Estrada showed during the hearing, suggested otherwise.
“Kakilala ko po siya, kaibigan ko (I know him; he is my friend),” Guo said, when asked about her level of friendship with Calugay. Estrada first floated the idea of Guo having a romantic relationship with a Pangasinan mayor during the May 222 hearing, but didn’t name Calugay at that time.
Calugay was named in the Senate hearing during the September 5 probe. He was invited to testify before the Senate, but he excused himself, saying he had dengue. Calugay also snubbed the probe on Monday, prompting senators to issue a subpoena against him.
His executive assistant, Cheryl Medina, was present during the hearing. She said that she knew Guo since 2022. Guo, as well as her brother Wesley, were present in some Sual public events, as seen in photographs presented by Hontiveros during the hearing.
Medina also denied that Sual town was issuing an Accounts Insurance Membership ID. It was the same ID that Shiela Guo, Alice’s sister, supposedly had. Medina said she was not part of the Sual government at the time the ID may have been issued.
While Guo repeatedly denied her romantic relationship with Calugay, a farm in Sual named Alisel Aqua Farm seemed to be derived from Guo’s name (Alice) and Calugay’s real name (Liseldo). The farm is also registered under Shiela’s name.
The Guo siblings denied the existence of the said farm. Hontiveros, however, presented a business permit from the Department of Trade and Industry to prove that it had been in existence since March 24, 2022, with a permit that would expire on March 24, 2027.
The quest for truth behind Guo and her ties with POGO remains elusive. While the dismissed mayor has continuously evaded questions and has refused to cooperate with Philippine officials, Gatchalian said he remains hopeful that the Senate will get to the bottom of things.
“We will just continue asking her. The evidence will speak for itself. Like the documents we presented earlier, all of them have supporting evidence. So even if she doesn’t speak or defend herself, we will present the evidence,” Gatchalian told Rappler after the Senate probe.
Aside from graft, Guo faces three other criminal investigations at the Department of Justice for qualified human trafficking, tax evasion, and money laundering. These are all related to her incorporation of a leasing company called Baofu Land Development Inc., which rented its spaces out to a POGO called HongSheng Gaming Technology Inc., later renamed Zun Yuan Technology Inc.
As she closed the Monday’s probe, Hontiveros said that the Senate will need to dig even deeper to find the truth.
“I remind the resource persons and the body that the right against self-incrimination is not a magical amulet to avoid answering very simple questions from the Senate. Guo Hua Ping, don’t insult us completely,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. – Rappler.com