President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo should explain how a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her locality expanded into a criminal enterprise.

Marcos added Guo must not be evasive in answering the lawmakers’ questions and “just tell the truth” during congressional hearings. 

“It will not help her at all to be evasive. Mas bibigat ang magiging problema niya kung hindi siya magsabi ng totoo (It would only add to her problems if she won’t be truthful with her answers),” Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview on Friday.

Marcos said Guo should explain why she does not know about the POGO problem in an area under her jurisdiction.

“What I want to hear from her is for her to lay out exactly how these POGOs became so such a large, it’s basically a criminal enterprise. And as mayor for her to say she did not know this was going on,” he said. 

“It's very difficult to believe because as a former local government executive, it seems impossible that an operation that is what? A few hundred meters away from my own office, hindi ko alam yung nangyayari doon, iligal na ganitong kalaki na operation? (I don’t know what is happening there, as large as this operation?),” he added. 

Marcos said Guo should explain how she acquired her wealth and how she got a local position.

He added that Guo must also answer better than her purported sibling, Sheila Guo, and her alleged associate, Cassandra Li Ong—an authorized representative of the raided POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.

“All these questions have actually been asked by both the House and the Senate. I just hope she answers it better than her cohorts—Cassandra Ong and Shiela who are very evasive in their answers,” he said.

“Sana naman mabuti-buti ang sagot ni Alice Guo as compared doon sa mga kasamahan niya (I hope Alice Guo has better answers compared to her associates) because it will not help her at all to be evasive.