Shiela Guo, one of the companions of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, said they transferred from a small boat to a bigger vessel in the middle of a rough sea as they left the country in July.
At the continuation of the Senate Committee on Women’s investigation into Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), Shiela said she, Alice, and Wesley Guo climbed a ladder from the larger ship despite the bumpy conditions.
Asked by panel chairperson Sen. Risa Hontiveros if the sea was “maalon” or choppy, Shiela said, “Medyo po.”
(It was a bit.)
“‘Pag nahulog, dire-diretso sa tubig?” Senate Presiden Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada asked.
(If you fell, it would have been straight into the sea?)
“Opo,” Shiela said with a small chuckle.
At one of the previous Senate hearings, Alice said that she, Wesley, and Shiela left the country by sea.
She said that they climbed aboard a yacht docked at a port in Metro Manila and left at around 10 p.m. sometime in July.
After traveling on the yacht, she said they shifted to a bigger vessel, but added that she doesn’t know the exact location where they made the transfer.
READ: TIMELINE: The escape of Alice Guo and her siblings
On August 27, Shiela confirmed to the same Senate panel that she and her siblings left the Philippines by riding several boats.
From a small white boat, she said they transferred to a bigger boat which she could can accommodate many people. The second ship appears to be a fishing ship because there were nets on it, according to her.
After that, Shiela said they transferred again to a smaller boat which carried them to Malaysia.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) earlier said it would revise its pre-departure inspection regulations on private boats amid the claim of Alice Guo that they left the Philippines via three boat transfers and one of the vessels used was a yacht.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also said it was looking for the yacht the Guos allegedly used. —NB, GMA Integrated News
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