“She will definitely not go to China.”
This was what Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio said when asked about the final destination of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo following reports that she was still in Indonesia.
Speaking at a news forum on Saturday, Casio said Guo cannot go to China since “she is already a person of interest as far as China is concerned because she’s accused of a serious crime in the Philippines in relation to illegal gambling.”
“We know how strict China is in relation to gambling in their own territories, so definitely she will not come to any of those territories,” he said.
With this, Casio said that Guo and her fellow fugitives “as far as the PAOCC is concerned, we are confident that she is trying to get into the Golden Triangle.”
Casio was referring to the Golden Triangle region in mainland Southeast Asia, located on the intersecting borders of Mekong River countries Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.
“Because the Guo family has business interests, gambling interests in Cambodia so that would be the safest bet that we have as of this moment,” Casio said.
While Cambodia is not part of the Golden Triangle region, the country still shares borders with Mekong nations Thailand to the northwest and Laos to its north. Cambodia also has a coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.
“They are part of a big criminal organization, ‘yung Fujian Gang kung saan kabilang ang mga Guo ay kabahagi ng Golden Triangle triad,” he said.
The PAOCC official said it will be difficult to arrest Guo once she arrives in the Golden Triangle.
“Medyo mahihirapan tayo, may giyera doon eh (We will have a hard time, there’s a war over there),” Casio said, referring to the ongoing civil war in Myanmar.
Nonetheless, he said that “it depends where in the Golden Triangle she will land…”
“So, the Golden Triangle, those countries are very porous in boundaries as I imagined and we know what the Golden Triangle entails when we talk about transnational organized crime,” Casio said.
It was Senator Risa Hontiveros who bared the information, on Monday that Guo, who was also identified as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, left the country on July 18 for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The PAOCC also said that the dismissed mayor had left the country and had been to at least three countries in Southeast Asia, namely Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Interviewed on Friday, Bureau of Immigration (BI) spokesperson Dana Sandoval said Guo was still in Indonesia and has not attempted to leave the country.
Indonesian authorities detained the dismissed mayor’s sister, Shiela Guo, and Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) that was raided in Porac, Pampanga for alleged illegal activities. Alice Guo is facing charges in connection with a raided POGO hub in Bamban.
Sheila Guo, whom Philippine authorities said was a Chinese citizen, and Ong are currently under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Casio said Philippine authorities are awaiting the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue an arrest warrant against Guo so it may coordinate with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
“Wala pa kasing warrant eh (mula sa DOJ). In the absence of a warrant of arrest, we cannot operate. ‘Pag nakuha na natin ang warrant from DOJ, we can trigger a notice, red notice, puwede na natin makuha,” he said.
(A warrant has yet to be issued [by the DOJ]. In the absence of a warrant of arrest, we cannot operate. ‘Once we get the warrant from DOJ, we can trigger and secure a notice, red notice.)
Meanwhile, Guo’s lawyer Stephen David said he was hopeful that his client would surrender sooner than expected, noting that he was able to talk to the dismissed mayor.
Red notice
The PAOCC official said that a red notice “would facilitate her immediate return to the Philippines.”
“The basis for red notice or an international arrest warrant is a local arrest warrant. Wala pa po ‘yun. The cases that we filed are still pending for resolution before the Department of Justice… assuming that we get a favorable resolution in favor of the government, only then a warrant of arrest will be issued against her [and] only then we would be able to trigger an application for red notice before the Interpol,” Casio said.
The Interpol defines red notice as “to seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.”
Meanwhile, Casio said local prosecutors are planning to apply for “blue notice” before the Interpol on Tuesday.
Blue notice means seeking the Interpol’s assistance to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
“About mayor Guo, Indonesian authorities are confident that she is still secured in the Batam area,” Casio said.
“Ngayon ang pwede lang magawa ay bantayan lang po na hindi siya makalabas kung nasaan man siya ngayon, ‘pag nakalabas po siya ay huhulihin natin… hindi siya lalabas kasi alam niya na once she goes to a public area, pwede siyang kunin. May legal ground to hold her for immigration pero kung nasa loob lang siya ng hotel o whatever, we cannot do that, we cannot break domicile,” he said.
— VDV/ VAL, GMA Integrated News
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