President says he was kept in the dark by BI on escape
President Marcos said he already has a “very, very good idea” as to who should be held responsible for the flight of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo – led by but not limited to people within the Bureau of Immigration – as he admitted he was kept in the dark on details of the escape.
“I have a very good idea (as to who were involved) from BI (among others),” the President said in an interview on Tuesday.
“The Department of Justice is almost finished with a very thorough investigation. We will identify all of those who have, all of those who are involved in this and we will act very quickly.”
“That’s what the last part of this investigation – how far, how deep does it go. Does it involve only one person or many are involved? A syndicate? That’s what we’re looking for. There are no sacred cows,” Mr. Marcos added.
Asked if the Immigration bureau knew of Guo’s escape but kept the information from him, Mr. Marcos said: “Definitely.”
At the Senate, BI commissioner Norman Tansingco admitted they were alerted by the Philippine National Police – Intel Group of Guo’s flight as early as August 15, but they only informed the Department of Justice and the Office of the Executive Secretary about the information five days later on August 20.
“We got the confirmations (only) on 19th in the morning up to the 20th when all the information we got (was) validated already,” Tansingco said.
“We endorsed it to the Office of Executive Secretary and DOJ in the morning of August 20,” he said, adding that the bureau already had by then “confirmation and validation of the information that (was) coming in, considering that there (was) conflicting information.”
Over the weekend, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio said lapses and corruption within law enforcement agencies led to the escape of Guo.
“Forgive my language and forgive my frustration — napakatanga naman naming lahat sa law enforcement — kami lahat — at hindi namin siya nabantayan at nakita (We are all dumb in law enforcement – all of us – that we were not able to track her down while making her way out of the country),” Casio said.
“We have to accept the fact that corruption is seeping into some agencies of government. Someone, somewhere dropped the ball. Someone, somewhere dribbled — kept on dribbling the ball — so we really have to investigate. Any investigation should begin with law enforcement agencies. Investigate us all. Call us out,” Casio added.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian earlier said government agencies may have conspired in helping Guo flee the country despite an immigration lookout bulletin.
Gatchalian also raised concerns that a well-entrenched criminal syndicate involved in money laundering may have facilitated the escape.
Casio disclosed the commission received a tip that Guo was spotted in a private resort in the western tip of Luzon on July 14.
“When we attempted to serve the warrant and the mission order against Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping, our source inside that particular location informed us that she left in two speed boats together with some members of her party in the early hours of our operation,” he said.
The next time Guo surfaced was in Denpasar in Indonesia on July 17 where she left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
From Kuala Lumpur, Guo proceeded to Singapore to meet up with her relatives before returning to Indonesia, where her sister, Sheila Guo, and associate Cassandra Li Ong, were apprehended on Aug. 21.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Marcos: We will identify everyone involved in Alice Guo escape”
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