Pressing further with its investigation on the contentious escape of former Bamban Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality alongside the Committees on Migrant Workers, Public Order and Dangerous Drugs is Under Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who will conclude the proceedings by the end of the day, the inquiry is scheduled to last Tuesday morning, September 24.
Allegations of Business and Romantic Ties
Alice Guo and her claimed boyfriend, Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo Calugay, were questioned at last week’s Senate hearing about their claimed business and romantic ties. Although Guo and Calugay vehemently rejected the accusations, pictures and records the senators provided showed otherwise, raising questions on the nature of their connection. Notwithstanding the evidence suggesting closer ties, both sides insisted they are only pals.
Hontiveros underlined five farm business registrations—AC Aqua Farm, Dee Aqua Farm, Licsel Fish Farm, Donguo Fish Farm, and Guco Aqua Farm—that seem to be connected to Guo and Calungay. These companies have sparked questions regarding whether the two mayors participated in cooperative financial projects, a matter still under central focus of the inquiry.
Guo’s Flight and Human Trafficking Case Involvement
The debate about Guo grew more intense during the Senate hearings, especially in view of information on her escape from the Philippines under a human trafficking case. Guo reportedly signed the last page of her counter-affidavit about the matter before leaving late July. Later, far after her leaving, her counter-affidavit was turned in in mid-August. This calls into doubt the validity of the notarizing process, which was purportedly enabled by her assistant working under Calugay’s staff.
Those helping Guo, however, denied knowing that she had left the nation previously when the affidavit was handled. This has complicated the matter even further since it implies possible collaboration in Guo’s flight and efforts to hide her trail overseas.
Links to Other Key Figures and Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO)
The inquiry also concentrated on Cassandra Li Ong, a Whirlwind Corp. incorporator who leased land to the dubious Philippine offshore gambling operator (POGO) center Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga. Ong, apparently Guo’s brother Wesley Guo’s girlfriend, was among the Guo siblings when they left the nation. Although Ong and Shiela Guo were detained in August, further questions linger about their roles in more general POGO operations and possible links to human trafficking.
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During the proceedings, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada expressed further questions regarding the accuracy of Ong’s birth certificate, which showed an invalid address in San Juan City as her place of birth. Estrada, a former San Juan mayor, also pointed out that although Ong’s birth certificate claimed her parents were married, they lacked any marriage certificate. These anomalies have stoked doubts about Ong’s links to the case and identity.
Guo’s own citizenship came under examination as it was discovered she identifies as Guo Hua Ping, a Chinese national. This disclosure has complicated attempts to grasp the whole extent of her involvement in both the human trafficking case and her ties to POGOs, so adding still another level of mystery to the matter.
Claims about Police Involvement in Guo’s Escape
The claim that a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief might have helped Alice Guo flee the nation was one of the more shocking discoveries during the Senate proceedings. Raul Villanueva, Senior Vice President for the Security and Monitoring Cluster of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), said there were suspicions that a former PNP commander got “payola,” or money from Guo, therefore enabling her leaving.
Although Villanueva did not identify the police official engaged, the accusations have generated major debate. Originally a PNP head in the Duterte government, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa seized the chance during the session to argue that he is not the police chief allegedly involved in the controversy, therefore refuting any role in the affair.
Continuous Research
The Senate hearings have exposed a convoluted network of political, business, and criminal relationships around Alice Guo that raises grave questions regarding the participation of public officials and their links to illegal activity including people trafficking and POGO operations. The investigation is under increasing pressure to find out the whole scope of Guo’s activities, her relationship with Mayor Calugay, and the part other people—including former PNP officials—have in her escape.
Tuesday, September 24 at 9 a.m., the public can view the second portion of the Senate hearing as senators try to investigate these claims and provide clarity to a case that has grabbed national interest.
