President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. yesterday said dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo should explain how a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in her town has expanded into a criminal enterprise.
Marcos said Guo must not be evasive when answering lawmakers’ questions and “just tell the truth” in 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),” Marcos told reporters in an interview on Friday.
Marcos said Guo should explain how she could not have known about the POGO hub in an area that was in her jurisdiction.
“What I want from her is to lay out exactly how this POGO became so large it was basically a criminal enterprise. And as mayor, for her to say that 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 from my own office, hindi ko alam yung nangyayari doon, iligal na ganitong kalaki na operation? (I didn’t know what was happening, as large as this illegal operation was),” he said.
Marcos said Guo should also explain how she acquired her wealth and how she won a local government position.
He added that Guo must answer better than her purported sibling, Sheila Guo, and her alleged associate, Cassandra Li Ong, the alleged 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 them better than her cohorts — Cassandra Ong and Shiela who were very evasive in their answers,” he said.
Deported by Indonesia
After several weeks on the lam, Guo was returned to the country from Indonesia early on Friday morning.
Guo arrived in Manila at 1:10 a.m. on 6 September on board a private plane accompanied by Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Marbil.
Her return was facilitated by Indonesian immigration who ordered her deportation after Indonesian police arrested her in an apartment early on 4 September. Philippine immigration authorities worked with their Indonesian counterparts to speed up her return.
On the flight were eight Bureau of Immigration (BI) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) officials and three crew members.
Guo is accused of, among other things, violating Philippine immigration laws by misrepresenting herself and of involvement in illegal online gaming and other scams operating out of a POGO hub in Bamban.
Guo was ordered arrested by Tarlac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 109 on two counts of graft.
The court set bail at P180,000, or P90,000 for each count. The former mayor did not post bail for her arrest order.
“The return of Alice Guo is a significant achievement for the Philippine justice system and highlights the effective collaboration between international counterparts and law enforcement agencies,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
“This operation demonstrates our unwavering commitment to ensuring that justice prevails, no matter the boundaries,” he added.
Physical custody will remain with the PNP, but Guo will still be under the BI’s legal jurisdiction.
Death threats
On being turned over to Abalos by the Indonesian authorities, Guo told the Interior secretary there were death threats against her.
“Sec patulong. May death threat po kasi ako. (Sec, I need your help. There is a death threat against me),” she was heard telling Abalos.
Guo fled the Philippines in July with her supposed siblings, Shiela and Wesley Guo, and a suspected associate, Cassandra Li Ong. All are wanted in connection with the investigation into POGO operations.
According to Shiela, they fled on boats that ultimately took them to Malaysia from where they made their way to Singapore and Indonesia.
‘Special treatment’
Meanwhile, Abalos and Marbil came under fire for supposedly according Guo “special treatment” during her apprehension and return to the country.
Their “efforts” in apprehending Guo was met with strong criticism from legislators and the public when they smilingly posed for a photo with Guo, which Abalos deemed “unfair.”
“We were surprised by the strange treatment of the DILG, PNP, and NBI to Guo Hua Ping from the time she was picked up in Indonesia until she arrived in the Philippines,” said Bukidnon Rep. Keith Flores, chairperson of the House Committee on Government Reorganization and vice chairperson of the Committee on Justice.
“From Jakarta to NAIA, they constantly took selfies and took pictures with wanted and suspect Guo Hua Ping. They treated her as if she was an artist [or] celebrity. They pretended to be fanboys and fangirls instead of law enforcement officers of the Philippines. Are they not ashamed of their behavior? he added.
Flores insinuated that there was “special treatment” accorded to Guo by authorities who allowed her to wear a mask and cover her handcuffs with a white sweater.
He also lambasted the officials for apparently using Guo for “campaign posters.”
“Filipino officials need to explain their behavior — behavior that does not align with how a fugitive and someone being pursued by law enforcement should be treated,” Flores said.
Netizens mad, too
Netizens also expressed their disgust over the photos that were posted on social media Friday.
A Facebook post described the turnover of Guo by Indonesian authorities to Abalos and Marbil as “Alice Guo fan meet and greet be like.”
The video, netizens said, looked like a social event and a photo shoot. Other photos showed Guo smiling and giving a double “peace” sign with Abalos and Marbil.
Other pictures showed Guo with BI and NBI agents in the van that took them to the Sukarno Airport posing like they were “going on a fun road trip.”
“Ginawa kayong mga tanga, natakasan, ngayon barkada na sila! What is happening? (She made fools of you, escaped from you, now you’re close friends),” a netizen commented on the photos of Guo smilingly broadly with woman BI and NBI agents who were also all smiles.
Abalos, however, shrugged off the reactions, saying he had asked for the pictures to be taken as proof they had custody of Guo and did not realize she was making faces for the camera.
‘Phl selfie capital’
For his part, President Marcos said there was “nothing more” to the selfies taken with Guo.
“Well, I think that is part of the new culture now to take photos of anything. Then they will post it [online]... We are the selfie capital of the world, right? So they took a selfie,” Marcos said.
“Well, you can’t stop people from smiling, so... They just had a selfie. I don’t think, I don’t think there’s much more to it than that. They took a selfie,” Marcos added.
Seize Guo assets
House Deputy Majority Leader Margarita Nograles prodded the Land Registration Authority to issue an adverse claim and initiate forfeiture proceedings on Guo’s real estate assets and other POGO firms to prevent further transactions and secure these landholdings in favor of the government.
These landholdings, she emphasized, are in direct violation of the Constitution, which prohibits non-Filipinos from owning land in the country.
“The Philippine Constitution is clear: non-Filipinos are not allowed to own land in the country. The increasing reports of Chinese nationals and corporations, particularly those connected to POGOs, holding real estate assets are deeply alarming and must be addressed with urgency,” Nograles said.
In July, the Court of Appeals issued a freeze order on Guo’s 90 bank accounts, 12 properties and more than a dozen luxury cars, including a helicopter.
Quezon Rep. Reynante Arrogancia, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Public Order, warned authorities who purportedly help Guo flee to Malaysia and Indonesia that resigning from their respective posts or going AWOL wouldn’t stop Congress and the Department of Justice from putting them behind bars.