August 27, 2024 | 10:18am
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights joint with the Committees on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality; and Public Services are leading the inquiry into the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo on Tuesday morning.
Newly-elected Senate justice and human rights committee chairman Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III last week formed a subcommittee to hear Guo’s departure and assigned Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros to lead the investigation.
They are expected to tackle Hontiveros’ call for the cancellation Guo’s Philippine passport.
The upper chamber will also seek answers on which law enforcement agencies or officials should be held accountable for allowing Guo to evade justice and if there has been a collusion within these agencies.
The senators will likewise probe which port or airport Guo used to exit the country and determine the current protocols in place to prevent similar breaches, among others.
The Senate issued an arrest order against Guo last July 13. They ordered the arrest of former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center director general Dennis Cunanan, Guo’s accountant, Nancy Gamo, Guo’s alleged relatives Sheila Leal Guo, Wesley Leal Guo, Jian Zhong Guo, Seimen Guo and Wenyi Lin after they repeatedly refused to attend the Senate’s investigation into the raided Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hubs in Bamban and Porac, Pampanga.
Last August 19, however, Hontiveros bared that Guo has left the country on July 18, passing through Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore and then in Batam, Indonesia.
The Bureau of Immigration later confirmed that the former mayor left the country without going through immigration authorities, raising further questions about the “escape.”
She is believed to still be staying in Indonesia.
Guo’s companions, Cassandra Li Ong, an incorporator of a Porac, Pampanga-based POGO and the dismissed mayor’s sister, Shiela, were apprehended by Indonesian immigration authorities last August 22.
They are expected to attend the Senate probe to shed light on their departure from the country and their links to POGOs.
Watch the Senate hearing at 10 a.m.
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