Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday rejected the assertion of Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, that no Filipino helped her flee the country sometime in July.
“I am of the belief that there were other personalities, possibly officials in government other than the Bureau of Immigration (BI), who helped her,” Escudero told reporters.
The Senate chief noted that even non-Filipino actors, who aided the Guo siblings and Cassandra Li Ong’s departure from the Philippines must also be held accountable.
Testifying on Monday after her arrest in Indonesia, Guo—who was dismissed as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac—divulged to the Senate hearing on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) that an ‘Asian woman’ and a Chinese man helped them travel to Malaysia.
The Asian woman accompanied them from a port in Manila where they boarded a yacht until they reached their destination. The Chinese man whom Guo identified by writing his name on a piece of paper allegedly facilitated their escape.
Indonesian authorities also disclosed that at least four persons helped Guo and her companions while abroad after they fled the Philippines:
“That they (complicit individuals) are allegedly ‘not here’ should not stop us from trying to get them,” Escudero said.
Furthermore, the Senate leader said the Philippine government should also go after the financiers and bosses of the POGO in its operations.
Escudero commended President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for acting decisively and with dispatch his promise to the nation that “heads will roll” in connection with the embarrassing escape of Guo. This resulted in the dismissal of BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian revealed that Guo and her family corporations paid billions of pesos for the electric bill of the raided POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga before and during the incumbency of Guo as mayor.
Gatchalian noted that this is strong evidence of Guo’s participation in the POGO operation, contrary to her repeated denials.
The senator said last December 2022, Guo paid P22 million to the Tarlac II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (TARELCO 2). On September 11, 2023, Guo also P5.4 million in check and last January 2024, she paid P3.44 million in electric bill.
