President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said there was no exchange of prisoners between the Philippines and Indonesia for the repatriation of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo to the country. 

In a media interview on Friday, Marcos lamented the government did not go through a simple process to bring back Guo to the country.

“Wala namang nag-swap. Walang swap (Nobody had swapped. There’s no swap),” Marcos said, explaining there was no official request from the Indonesian government for a prisoner swap.

The Indonesian press reported the information about the prisoner swap after the arrest of Guo in Tangerang City, Jakarta, Indonesia, on the early morning of 3 September.

“Hindi official ‘yon, so no. But I can explain, hindi naging simple ang pag-uwi ni Alice Guo dito sa Pilipinas. It wasn’t simple at all (That is not official, so no. But I can explain that her return was no simple task at all). We were negotiating very intricate, very sensitive, and very delicate details for the last, maybe, 48 hours,” Marcos said. 

The President stressed that the Philippine government was closely in touch with its “friends” from Indonesia, mentioning his foreign trips had contributed to facilitating Guo’s arrest and transfer. 

“Dahil sa pagpunta ko sa ibang mga bansa, Indonesia being one of them, at naging malapit kami ni President Jokowi, naging bahagi ‘yon (Because of my official travels abroad, Indonesia being one of them, President Jokowi and I became close),” he said.

Amid Guo’s return, Marcos wants the dismissed mayor to disclose how the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) in Bamban, Tarlac expanded its operations. 

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

Marcos said Guo should answer controversial questions. 

“All these questions have actually been asked by both the House and the Senate. I just hope she answers it better than her cohorts, sina Cassandra Ong at si Shiela [Guo], (na) very evasive makasagot (in her answers),” he said. 

“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).”