Senate takes Guo sister into custody

The Philippine Senate said Monday it had taken custody of arrested Shiela Guo, sister of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo who has been linked to alleged criminal activities at a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac.

Senate spokesperson Arnel Jose Bañas said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) formally transferred Shiela Guo to the Senate’s custody at 12:29 p.m. yesterday. Bañas said the Senate medical team examined Guo to ensure her physical and mental health.

“The Senate security team, led by Sergeant-at-Arms Lt. Gen. Roberto Ancan, has assured the protection and safety of Guo inside the Senate premises,” Bañas said.

He said a round-the-clock security team is posted near Guo’s accommodations. “Further updates will be issued as they develop,” he added.

Shiela, along with Alice Guo’s other sibling, Wesley Guo, and their parents, is under a standing arrest order issued by the Senate for refusing to appear in the ongoing investigation into the operations of Zun Yuan Technology Inc., which was raided by authorities in March.

Arbitrary detention

Meanwhile, an arbitrary detention complaint is being considered by the camp of Cassandra Li Ong, an alleged associate of Mayor Guo, according to Ferdinand Topacio, Ong’s lawyer.

Topacio said the Department of Justice (DoJ) will “definitely” be among the respondents.

“Definitely, because the DoJ is on top of the NBI. I pity the NBI,” Topacio said in Filipino. But Topacio said they did not have specific respondents in mind yet.

Deported

To recall, the NBI took Ong into custody last week after her return to the country, hours after she was intercepted in Batam, Indonesia, with Shiela.

Topacio said there was no basis for the NBI to detain Ong as there was no arrest warrant issued by a court.

The only arrest order against Ong was issued by the House of Representatives after she was cited in contempt for her continued failure to attend the investigation into POGO-related crimes.

Topacio said, “No warrant, no case, and you detain someone at the NBI? I even said that if they were turned over to the House sergeant-at-arms when they arrived, we wouldn’t have a problem with that. There’s no question about it.”

End of road

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Monday he sees the “end of the road” for dismissed Mayor Guo and her associates, who are implicated in the illegal operations of POGOs in the country.

Gatchalian said the authorities are close to establishing the connection between the raided POGO hub Zun Yuan Technology Inc. in Bamban, Tarlac, and Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.

“I think it is the end of the road for them because there are several documents that will connect both of them to the POGO hub in Porac. They have nowhere to go,” he told reporters.

Gatchalian said foreign authorities have been alerted about Mayor Guo’s possible destinations within Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle.

BI: Mayor still in Indonesia

According to Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval, Alice Guo has not made any attempt to leave Indonesia.

“Yes, in our coordination with our counterparts in Indonesian Immigration, Mayor Alice Guo has not made any attempts to cross the border again since their entry on 18 August. As for her brother, Wesley Leal Guo, there is still no update,” she said in a televised interview.

The BI discovered that there were no Philippine immigration markings or stamps on Sheila Guo’s passport, confirming that she, her sister, and Ong had left the Philippines without passing through immigration inspections.

Sandoval denied the BI hid the information regarding the escape of Alice Guo.

“[The information] that our agency received was very conflicting, so our agency leaders ordered its verification from other reliable sources, and when it was confirmed, we released the information immediately to help in the investigation,” Sandoval said.

Ong is expected to appear at a House inquiry on illegal POGOs on Wednesday after the chamber officially took her into custody.

Ong was transferred to the House on Monday afternoon by the National Bureau of Investigation, which initially took her and Sheila Guo into its custody upon their return to the Philippines on Thursday from Indonesia.