(UPDATES) THE Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, during the resumption of its probe into the alleged illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) on Wednesday, ordered the arrest of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, or Guo Hua Ping, and seven others for repeatedly snubbing the inquiry.
Among the crimes associated with POGOs include human trafficking, torture and online scams.
Also cited for contempt were the mayor’s father Jian Zhong Guo; her mother Wenyi Lin; her siblings Seimen Leal Guo, Shiela Guo and Wesley Leal Guo; POGO incorporator Nancy Gamo; Dennis Cunanan; and former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center deputy director general.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the committee, issued the ruling upon the separate motions of Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
Guo, in a letter to the senator, said that she was unfit physically and mentally to attend the hearing, adding no doctor wanted to see her for fear of being criticized by the public.
Estrada said the Senate’s doctor should check on Guo to verify her claim.
“I think this letter of explanation is totally unacceptable. Therefore, I would like to move that we issue a warrant of arrest against Mayor Guo for her to attend the next hearing, if there is one,” Estrada said.
Gatchalian, during the hearing, presented Guo’s alien registration certificate, school records, and birth certificate from China.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it was trying to locate the other Alice Guo, who shared the same birthday and same birthplace as the suspended Bamban, Tarlac mayor.
The NBI said the “other” Alice Guo applied for NBI clearance on Nov. 3, 2005, while her namesake mayor sought a similar document on March 28, 2006.
Edgardo Kawada, an operative from NBI Organization and Transnational Crime Division, said a team was dispatched on May 26 to verify “the Alice Guo, who applied for NBI clearance,” residing in Kalantiaw Street in Project 4 in Quezon City.
“We immediately proceeded to Project 4. And we found out that the actual residents of 138 Kalantiaw Street are spouses Perry and Josefina Publico. They claimed they lived there for about 60 years, and they never met Alice Leal Guo,” Kawada said.
“After our investigation at Project 4 we proceeded to Barangay Toro in Project 8 to verify if Kalantiaw Street is also may be found at Project 8. But we were able to talk to the barangay secretary of barangay Toro, and he claimed that the clustering of streets is named after mountains and planets. So, there is no Kalantiaw [Street],” he added.
Gatchalian said documents he obtained showed that Guo did not grow up on a farm in Bamban town. And she was “not also homeschooled” as she claimed.
The senator said Guo studied at the Grace Christian High School, where he also studied from Grades 1 to 3 and from 2000 to 2003. “So, she was not homeschooled by [a certain teacher] Rubilyn. What I remember in our school was that there was no farm there, only buildings,” he said.
Gatchalian added that Guo’s school records contained an “attached” alien certificate of registration, which “matched” the ACR in possession of the NBI.
“And in that enrollment document [of Guo], interestingly, there is a birth certificate from China in Chinese [language] and translated into English. It indicated that her father is Guo Jian Zhong, which we already know, and her mother is Wenyi Lin,” he said.
“So, I just want to put it on record because as we go along [there were] many [people] were providing information [to us] to strengthen the case filed by the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General),” Gatchalian said referring to the OSG’s plan to cancel Guo’s late birth registration.
Assistant Solicitor General James Lee Cundangan said, “We will be happy to receive these documents, senator [Gatchalian], and we will consider the same, together with the team, together with the honorable solicitor general on the deliberation on the filing of a quo warranto [against Guo].”
The following were also subpoenaed: Jaimielyn Cruz, Roderick Paul Pujante, Juan Miguel Alpas, Katherine Cassandra Ong, Alberto Rodulfo de la Serna, Jonathan Mendoza, Ronelyn Baterna, Michael Bryce Mascarenas, Stephanie Mascarenas, Rodrigo Banda, Jing Gu, Xiang Tan, Daniel Salcedo Jr., Chona Alejandre, and Duanren Wu.
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