DoJ: POGO brains, minions out soon — Tag big fish, turn ‘witness’, Guo told

With former Bamban Mayor Alice Guo in the government’s hands, the hunt turns to the ringleader and those who facilitated Guo’s escape for abroad.

The involvement of government and private individuals who helped Guo flee the country in mid-August will be known this month, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said.

Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano, DoJ spokesperson, while refusing to give an exact timetable for the investigation, said the probe will end this month.

“It’s coming to an end,” Clavano said, when asked the status of the crackdown against officials who may have been involved in Guo’s illegal exit.

He added that Guo could be tapped as a state witness to uncover the brains behind the proliferation of illegal online scams and Philippine Online Gaming Operator (POGO) hubs during the previous administration.

Clavano said that if Guo could help authorities pinpoint a higher individual, she would not be considered the guiltiest in the POGO scandal.

He said the results of the investigation will come out very soon.

“We are not only looking at public officials but private individuals as well,” he said, noting that the POGO network “is quite big.”

The report’s release “may be moved” to a later date “if other factors come to light,” he added.

Heads to roll

Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed that “heads will roll” after Guo, along with her supposed siblings, Wesley and Shiela, and their purported associate, Cassandra Li Ong, fled the Philippines in mid-August at the height of the congressional investigations on illegal POGOs in the country.

Investigation showed that Guo — whose name appeared on several documents of a raided POGO hub in Tarlac — and the others were able to leave the country by taking multiple boat rides to Sabah, Malaysia. They then made their way to Singapore and Indonesia.

Shiela was arrested with Ong in Batam, Indonesia the other week before they could board a ferry back to Singapore, while Alice was arrested in Jakarta earlier last week.

Guo claims threats

Guo claimed she fled the country because of threats on her life.

In a video posted on Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos’ Facebook account of his Thursday meeting with Guo in Jakarta, Guo was heard saying, “Sec, patulong. May death threat po kasi ako.” (Sec, I need your help because there is a death threat against me.)

Abalos said he told Guo to divulge all that she knew.

“A bigger person is involved and she is afraid for her life, so I told her, ‘reveal everything you know, don’t be afraid for your life as we will protect you,’” Abalos said.

“Everything she knows must be divulged to the Senate and to the authorities,” he said.

Guo faces human trafficking and money laundering charges stemming from her alleged involvement in the illegal POGO hub in Bamban town.

Clavano said that at present, “because of what we know and what is turning up in the probe, she is still the most guilty, thereby disqualifying her from becoming a state witness.”

However, Clavano said if they find that a bigger person was behind the illegal POGO activities, she may turn state’s evidence since she would no longer be the most guilty.

The DoJ official noted that turning Guo into a state witness would also “depend on her willingness to cooperate with law enforcers.”

Guo disappeared from public view after attending Senate hearings in May. She left the country in July despite her name being on an immigration lookout bulletin.

After her arrest in Indonesia, Guo arrived in the Philippines before dawn last Friday.

Where’s Wesley

Meanwhile, Wesley was last seen attempting to depart for Hong Kong, but authorities have yet to disclose his current location.

“Not that I’m making any excuses but we have 7,100 islands here,” Clavano said.

“It’s quite challenging but it is not a challenge that cannot be overcome with proper legislation, proper law enforcement that we can instill,” he said.

Clavano admitted that it is a big challenge but it’s something the government has to do for the Filipino people.