Senate executive session paves way for disclosure
“Di po ako mastermind. Masasabi ko po na isa po akong victim.” —Alice Guo”
The Senate panel investigating illegal POGO activities held an executive session with dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, opening the floodgates for the unmasking of the Chinese criminal syndicate network “mastermind.”
“Di po ako mastermind. Masasabi ko po isa po akong victim (I am not the mastermind. I can say that I am a victim),” Guo told the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality yesterday.
“I think with the length of this investigation, the Senate committee already knows who is really at the back of everything…It’s not that I was used. If I ever helped anyone, I am a helpful person. That’s all. But regarding the activities and the allegations, I don’t have anything to do with them,” Guo added.
Senator JV Ejercito initiated the closed-door meeting, which took place at Majority Leader Senator Francis Tolentino’s office.
When asked if she could identify the “most guilty” person, Guo responded in the affirmative.
At least two names have cropped up in previous panel hearings as possible “boss of all POGO bosses” – Huang Zhiyang and Duanren Wu.
Huang, who is in Hong Kong, was reportedly identified by Guo as her mysterious benefactor who orchestrated her short-lived escape from the country. He is said to hold five different passports, including from China, Cyprus, Cambodia, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Wu, on the other hand, was a former Chinese police officer and godfather of Guo’s associate, Cassandra Li Ong.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the committee, initially opposed the executive session but eventually welcomed the dismissed mayor’s answers.
“I think it’s the first time that I heard Guo Hua Ping that we are headed toward uncovering the whole story, namely the identity of the highest individual behind POGOs in the Philippines. We also want to know the government personnel or officials who helped her escape, even for monetary considerations.” Hontiveros said.
Guo requested her legal counsel be present, leading to a compromise where they would join virtually.
Ejercito said the brief executive session was productive and that the committee plans to reconvene next week.
“May napala naman (We got something out of it),” Ejercito said.
Guo, who is currently detained at the Pasig city jail, is facing multiple legal issues, including a graft case in Valenzuela and a non-bailable qualified human trafficking case in Pasig.
The Department of Justice earlier said there was still a small possibility of Guo turning into a state witness, but only if she could point out the mastermind behind the illegal POGO activities in the country.
As this developed, Tony Yang – older brother of Michael Yang, the economic adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte – acknowledged having official documents under a Filipino identity to facilitate his business operations in the country.
The elder Yang, who also goes by the name Antonio Maestrado Lim, said he has been staying in the Philippines since 1998 or 1999.
“What I remember is that when I was two to three years old, it was my grandfather who helped me come up with this birth certificate,” Yang told Hontiveros through an interpreter.
Yang likewise confirmed having met with former Philippine National Police chief Benjamin Accorda after Hontiveros quizzed him on his ties to former police officers.
Accorda was PNP chief from 2023 until he retired earlier this year.
For his part, Zhao Shouqui – the owner of an alleged POGO hub in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu – admitted that he tried to transfer at least P1 million to a Filipino officer after they were apprehended by law enforcement authorities in late August.
Zhao, however, insisted it was not an attempted bribery even as he was trying to broker a “separate arrangement” for his “weak” 70-year-old wife and granddaughter, who is a minor.
Hontiveros, however, said she could not look at it other than a bribery attempt—a perspective shared by Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission spokesperson Winston Casio.
“There is no other way to interpret that, ma’am, because they attempted three times,” Casio said.
“It is still what we call a ‘bribe’—offering money to a Philippine government personnel, who is perfectly capable to suddenly turn humanitarian towards a senior citizen or a minor, in exchange for a special consideration—P1 million,” Hontiveros added.
Zhao also acknowledged sponsoring activities or donating computers to government officials while he was operating his businesses. He and his son were among the 169 foreign nationals that were nabbed on August 31.
On the other hand, the Senate lifted a contempt citation against Shiela Guo, who is facing charges related to immigration violations.
Hontiveros instructed the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to transfer Shiela under the custody of the Bureau of Immigration.
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