USED to lavish accommodations as a free (wo)man, dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo was “shocked” when she was brought to a regular cell of the Pasig City Jail-Female Dormitory last Monday afternoon, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said yesterday.

“She was shocked. It might be the first time she saw a cell with many people (detainees),” BJMP spokesman Supt. Jayrex Bustinera said.

Guo, facing a non-bailable case of qualified human trafficking, was transferred to the Pasig City Jail last Monday morning on orders of a Pasig City court.

Jails in the Philippines, known for being cramped, are usually furnished with the bare necessities – beds, tables, and chairs.

She was initially brought to an isolation room after an x-ray showed she had a possible lung infection. She shared the room with three detainees recovering from tuberculosis.

Another test showed Guo was negative for tuberculosis.

This prompted the transfer of Guo to a regular cell occupied by 43 other detainees at 3:43 p.m. also on Monday, said Bustinera.

“She already joined the general population. Since she was cleared by our medical doctors, she was transferred (to a regular cell) at 3:43 p.m.,” said Bustinera.

Asked what the initial reaction of Guo was, Bustinera said: “She was shocked. It took her moments before going inside.”

In a television interview, Bustinera said: “The feedback from our female warden there was that she (Guo) was shocked with the condition of her cell because I think she was expecting another cell.”

Bustinera said Guo did not show any tantrum or any violent reaction when she was moved to the regular cell, adding there was no untoward incident during her initial stay at the Pasig City jail.

Bustinera reiterated Guo was not being given preferential, saying: “We are treating her and the other PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) equally.”

Bustinera said they adopt tighter security measures when they move Guo out of the facility because she is a “high-profile” detainee.

“When we move her out to attend (a) hearing, we treat her differently compared to the other ordinary detainees because she is high-profile. We apply tighter security,” he said. “We have to make security preparations but this is not necessarily special treatment.”

ESCAPE VIA SEA

The Bureau of Immigration is convinced that Guo and siblings Shiela and Wesley traveled to Malaysia last July via sea.

“Based on the entries on their passports, they entered Kuala Lumpur on July 18; the second stamp was when they entered Sabah on July 19. Based on our first theory, they traveled via sea, they entered Sabah,” BI officer-in-charge Joel Anthony Viado told the Senate Committee on Women.

Shiela, in her past testimony, said they initially took a small boat, transferred to a bigger boat that they used to travel for four days, and then transferred to another small boat until they reached Sempora Island.

Viado said they asked the Manila Yacht Club last September 13 to provide them the list of yachts that traveled on the dates when Guo escaped, and that they be allowed to conduct an ocular inspection on the premises

“But we have not yet received any reply from the Manila Yacht Club,” he said. “We are still validating all information because the resource persons said they rode a yacht, that’s why we would like to conduct an ocular inspection on the Manila Yacht Club,” Viado said.

Viado said they are also checking the authenticity of the entries on the passports of the Guo siblings.

Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said Jomlaig Island served as a “playground” for POGO bosses in Bamban, Tarlac, adding she believed it was there that Guo hid before escaping last July.

She said that Yan Bin, a co-accused of Guo, has reported ties with the Jomalig leadership.