ASEANEWS HEADLINE-POGO | Alice Guo may still be in Indonesia — BI

MANILA, Philippines — Following the arrest of her sister and an alleged cohort in Indonesia, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday expressed belief dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo is still in the same country, along with her brother Wesley.

“Last monitoring was, they are still in Indonesia. Tracking on them is still ongoing and their teams are ready for any operation,” said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval, referring to Indonesia’s immigration authorities.

Indonesian authorities arrested Guo’s sister Sheila and Cassandra Li Ong, incorporator of Lucky South 99, identified as a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), at the Mega Mall Batam Centre in Riau last Aug.  20.

Sandoval maintained that the two, along with Guo’s other siblings Alice and Wesley, left the country “illegally” as the Philippine passport of Sheila Guo – which she said was “acquired fraudulently” – did not bear any mark or annotation from the BI.

Sheila “entered Sabah, Malaysia, which further solidifies our theory that they illegally crossed into Malaysia,” Sandoval added.

She also said Sheila and Ong tried to flee Batam Island after entering it on a ferry last Aug. 18.

The BI spokesperson added that Sheila Guo carried a Chinese passport, valid until 2031, “with a different name and a different date of birth, an entirely different identity.”

Immigration authorities have sued her for being an undesirable alien, subject to deportation, she said.

The BI said it is convinced that siblings Alice, Sheila and Wesley Guo, as well as Ong, left the country together, based on a luggage tag located bearing the name of Alice Guo, as well as matches in their travel history.

Sandoval said the BI is “very positive” that Indonesian immigration would be able to track down and help bring Alice and Wesley Guo back to the Philippines.

Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights said a Singaporean national who used to head an illegal POGO hub assisted Guo and her companion in Indonesia, according to Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesman Winston John Casio.

In a statement on Thursday, Indonesia’s Ministry of Law and Human Rights said a Singaporean whom it identified as ZJ booked four rooms at the Harris Hotel Batam Center for Guo, her siblings and Ong.

“From the results of checking CCTV (closed-circuit television), it was found that ZJ was the party who helped them to make hotel reservations,” Indonesia’s director of immigration supervision and enforcement Safar Godam was quoted as saying in the statement.

Casio said ZJ is Zhang Jie, the former president of Lucky South 99, an illegal POGO hub in Bamban which was raided by law enforcement agencies last June due to human trafficking and other illegal activities.

A matter of time

With her sister and a companion now under custody, “it’s a matter of time” before the dismissed mayor is arrested and repatriated to the Philippines, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

In an interview with Senate reporters via Zoom, Gatchalian said that based on information he received, Guo is in Batam, Indonesia. “That was her last (reported) location. It will be very difficult for her to move around Indonesia,” he added.

Details about Alice Guo’s whereabouts and the circumstances around their escape on July 18 would be among the main issues to be pursued at the public hearing of the joint committees on justice, human rights; women, children, family relations and gender equality and on public services on Tuesday.

“I’ve been repeatedly saying this: Bamban (POGO) was built with money from unknown sources. If you look at the income statements of Guo-related companies, there are no earnings,” Gatchalian said.

He also said Sheila played a “very important role” in the companies, being their treasurer or corporate secretary.

“In Hong Sheng Zun Yuan, Sheila was not there but then again where did the funding come from? What role does Sheila play?”

He also said Cassandra was corporate secretary of the Whirlwind Corp., owner of the land on which Lucky South 99 was built. “She is the representative of Lucky South 99 and she went to PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.) as a representative. There is a new dimension before because there is an angle,” Gatchalian said.

He also said the fact that Sheila and Cassandra were traveling together should attest to the closeness of Ong to the Guo familiy.

Gatchalian also said officials of the BI and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines would be asked on Tuesday to explain why Guo and her companions were able to leave the country without President Marcos knowing about it.

He said someone from the BI admitted knowing about Guo’s departure but failed to inform the Palace. The senator said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco would have a lot of explaining to do.

He said Tansingco appeared to have withheld from the President information about the departure of Guo and her companions for a long time.

No passport cancellation

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, for his part, said it’s best at the moment not to have Guo’s passport canceled as ordered by President Marcos, as doing so might complicate efforts to make her return.

“It’s something that’s a little tricky, that’s why we decided to our best judgment to just follow the law on the cancellation of passports, which we’ll do later,” he said on Thursday.

He said if Guo’s passport is cancelled, the government would have to issue a travel document “which would be an admission” that she’s a Filipino citizen. Guo’s Filipino citizenship is being questioned.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty, in an interview over TeleRadyo Serbisyo, said cancelling Guo’s and her siblings’ passports might have  “unintended consequences.” If Guo and her siblings’ passports will be cancelled, “it might make efforts to make them return more difficult,” he said.

Remulla appealed to Guo to return and face the qualifed trafficking complaint lodged against her.

The justice chief praised the BI and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for their intelligence gathering and sharing that led to the repatriation of Sheila and Ong.

“This victory demonstrates the essential role of enhanced cooperation between government forces in ensuring justice is served and peace is safeguarded at all times,” he said on Friday.

Authorities revealed that Sheila Guo had in her possession a Chinese passport valid until 2031.

Remulla also said investigators are looking into the liability of individuals and personalities who could have helped Guo and her partners flee.

“If we hold moneyed and entitled people to proper account, it can’t be far to achieving justice for all,” he said.

PNP monitoring

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it is keeping tabs on the whereabouts of Guo, who is suspected to be hiding in Indonesia.

Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the PNP, said they continue to monitor Guo’s movements even if she is abroad, in coordination with their foreign counterparts.

Fajardo said they are assisting the NBI and other concerned government agencies in investigating how the Guo siblings and Ong managed to leave the Philippines without getting noticed by the authorities.

Meanwhile, former senator Panfilo Lacson said the arrest of the sister and a companion of Guo was valid.

“I do not see the basis to question the warrant of arrest because it is there, it is legal,” Lacson said yesterday in an interview with “Storycon” on One News.

“They have to recognize the warrant of arrest, not just the judicial warrant (issued by a court), but the warrant issued by the upper and lower chambers (of Congress),” he added.

If there are questions regarding their arrest, Lacson said it should be lodged against Indonesian and not Philippine authorities.

“They cannot question Philippine authorities because it was Indonesian authorities who picked them up and deported them to the Philippines,” he said.

“Naturally, upon their return, they will be served with the warrant of arrest issued by the Senate and they should be detained at the detention facility of the Senate,” he added.

Sheila Guo was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Senate, while Ong was ordered arrested by the House of Representatives due to their failure to attend the ongoing hearings on POGOs.

Lacson said there is already jurisprudence on Congress’ power to detain individuals in relation to the conduct of hearings in aid of legislation. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Daphne Galvez, Emmnuel Tupas, Janvic Mateo