(UPDATES) DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo arrived back in Manila Thursday evening after Indonesian authorities in Jakarta turned her over to the custody of Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government said Guo was expected to arrive at 8:30 p.m. at the Royal Star Hangar in Pasay City.
Earlier, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he, Guo, Abalos and Marbil were to take a chartered flight from Jakarta to Manila after they served the arrest warrant issued by the Senate against Guo.
FLYING HOME Alice Guo signs her travel documents surrounded by Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The flight was originally scheduled to take off from Jakarta at 1:15 p.m. and arrive in Manila at 6:15 p.m. but was delayed by “procedural matters.”
Abalos held the arrest warrant issued by the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms against Guo.
Upon returning to Manila, Guo was to be taken to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for further investigation of potential charges.
After this, she will be taken to the Senate, where she will be with her sister, Shiela Guo, in the detention facility while waiting for the next hearing they will attend.
Tulfo is the chairman of the Senate Committee of Public Services, one of the three committees tasked to investigate the Guos’ escape from the Philippines.
The two other committees are the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, chaired by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, and the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, led by Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros.
Senate President Francis Escudero said the Senate would pursue Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s proposal to file perjury and disobedience complaints against Guo, who skipped previous Senate hearings into Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
The Senate ordered Guo and several others arrested for refusing to attend two consecutive hearings conducted by the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality.
Stephen David, lawyer of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo says he is talking to local authorities for the possible surrender of Wesley Guo, brother of Alice Guo, during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City, on Sept. 5, 2024. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Stephen David, lawyer of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo says he is talking to local authorities for the possible surrender of Wesley Guo, brother of Alice Guo, during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City, on Sept. 5, 2024. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Stephen David, lawyer of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo says he is talking to local authorities for the possible surrender of Wesley Guo, brother of Alice Guo, during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City, on Sept. 5, 2024. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Stephen David, lawyer of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo says he is talking to local authorities for the possible surrender of Wesley Guo, brother of Alice Guo, during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City, on Sept. 5, 2024. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Stephen David, lawyer of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo says he is talking to local authorities for the possible surrender of Wesley Guo, brother of Alice Guo, during a press conference at the Senate in Pasay City, on Sept. 5, 2024. PHOTOS BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Guo’s refusal to attend the Senate hearings violates Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes disobedience to a summons issued by Congress.
Meanwhile, Wesley Guo, Alice’s brother, intends to surrender to the authorities, his lawyer Stephen David, said on Thursday.
David talked to reporters at the Senate and said he spoke to Wesley on September 4 but didn’t disclose his whereabouts.
David said he is contacting law enforcement agencies to request Wesley’s possible surrender.
Earlier, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco already reached out to his counterparts in Hong Kong of the possibility that he snuck into Hong Kong using a Chinese passport after leaving his sister in Indonesia where she was subsequently arrested on Wednesday.
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Shiela Guo, sister of unseated Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, gestures as she answers questions at the second public hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights Subcommittee on Sept. 5, 2024. Led by Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the senators asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to cancel Alice Guo’s passport. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO
Alice Guo’s turnover to Philippine officials made moot earlier talk of a prisoner swap in which Indonesia would take custody of a high-profile drug suspect who was arrested in Cebu.
Guo, her sister Shiela, brother Wesley and business associate Cassandra Ong escaped the country after charges were filed against them for their alleged links to illegal POGOs. Shiela and Ong were arrested in Indonesia on August 21 and sent back to the Philippines the next day, but Alice and Wesley evaded arrest.
The Guos are believed to be Chinese but managed to obtain Philippine birth certificates and passports fraudulently.
Ong failed to attend the Senate hearing due to health problems.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairman of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, asked Department of Justice (DoJ) Assistant City Prosecutor Isser Josef Gatdula for updates on the DoJ’s investigation of who helped the Guos escape.
“Right now we’re still waiting for the results from the NBI and PAOCC (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission),” Gatdula said.
National Intelligence Coordinating Agency legal officer Rowena Acudili said Alice’s acquisition of Filipino citizenship illegally is “a national security concern.”
The Guos may each face a maximum of 609 to 1,218 years in prison if found guilty of 87 counts of money laundering. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the NBI, and PAOCC on August 30 jointly filed 87 counts of money laundering against them.
AMLC director Adrian Arpon said that under the law one count of money laundering is punishable by seven to 14 years imprisonment.
Sen. Joel Villanueva expressed disappointment over the continued evasiveness of Shiela to reveal the people who helped them escape to Malaysia.
“Who else helped you in the government, whether it’s the staff of a government agency, whether it’s a politician, whether it’s a mayor, congressman or whoever, tell us because we don’t believe the story you’re selling,” Villanueva told her.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday vowed to hold accountable those who helped the Guos escape the country.
“All of those who are implicated in assisting Alice Guo to leave the Philippines illegally as a fugitive from justice will certainly pay the price,” Marcos said.
“So you ask, whose head will roll? We won’t just fire them; we will file charges against them. What they did violates the law and is against all of the interests of the Philippine judicial system,” he added.
The President, however, declined to name those who would be implicated, saying “you’ll find out soon enough.”
But on Thursday, a spokesman for PAOCC, Winston Casio, said there was no evidence to show that the Bureau of Immigration had a hand in the illegal departure of the Guos and Ong.
Casio pointed out in an interview on a news program that they found no evidence pointing to the alleged involvement of immigration personnel, contrary to speculation that Guo spent some P200 million to bribe her way out of the country.
“We have not found any evidence either way with regards to any possible liability as far as the Bureau of Immigration is concerned,” said Casio. “Bear in mind that we have no evidence that she went through our immigration office.”
He pointed out that based on the testimony of Guo’s sister, Sheila, she got out of the Philippines using ferries without undergoing the normal process of passing through immigration counter.
In the same interview, Casio also recognized the BI’s role in the efforts to locate Guo and her eventual arrest by Indonesian authorities.
“I am 100 percent certain that in this particular retrieval, repatriation, possible repatriation of Alice, this is the work, the hard work of the people from the Bureau of Immigration,” Casio said.
WITH WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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