DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo facilitated the inclusion of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator’s (POGO) request for the municipal council to approve its local government permit, which was a requirement of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) for its issuance of a POGO license.
Bamban acting Mayor Leonardo Anunciacion made this claim at the resumption of the House quadruple committee’s hearing into the proliferation of POGOs under the Duterte administration, an allegation which was vehemently denied by the disgraced former mayor.
Anunciacion said that when she was still mayor, Guo made sure that Zun Yuan’s request for a Letter of No Objection (LONO) will be included in the agenda of the municipal council which he presided as vice mayor.
“Kinausap po raw ni Mayor Alice Guo si Honorable Councilor Rainier Rivera para po ma-agenda ang Zun Yuan Technology (Mayor Alice Guo spoke to Honorable Councilor Rainier Rivera to include Zun Yuan on the agenda),” he told Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, chair of the House Committee on Human Rights who is among the chairmen of the quad committee.
Anunciacion was Guo’s running mate in 2022. He was also a former mayor of Bamban.
Lawmakers believe that Baofu, which used to be headed by Guo as president, and Zun Yuan are the same, as with Whirlwind and Lucky South 99, the raided POGO in Porac, Pampanga which is represented by Cassandra Li Ong, who was also at the hearing.
Authorities found evidence of human trafficking and torture were at Zun Yuan, which is believed to be the new name of Hongsheng Gaming Corp. after it was raided last February.
Guo’s name first came to light after a Senate investigation on the raided Bamban POGO hub exposed links between her and Baofu Land Development Inc., which leased almost eight hectares of land to the Zun Yuan POGO hub.
The former mayor insisted during the hearing that she has already divested her ownership of Baofu.
Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, denied Anunciacion’s testimony, saying it was not true that she endorsed Zu Yuan’s LONO to Rivera, who will also be invited by the panel in its next hearing.
“Hindi po ako ang nag-endorse (It wasn’t me who endorsed),” Guo told an exasperated Abante who asked her if the acting mayor was lying or not.
Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro raised the possibility that Guo, a suspected Chinese national who posed as a Filipino citizen to run POGO operations, is linked to criminal syndicates from Fujian, a region in China.
The “Fujian Gang” refers to a crime syndicate similar to triads in Hong Kong.
The lawmaker presented a congratulatory poster from Manila-based Chinese businessmen, who are originally from Fujian, celebrating Guo’s election as the “first Chinese mayor in the Philippines” in 2022 and congratulating her father.
“This (congratulatory poster) came from businessmen here in Manila who originated from Fujian, China,” said Luistro, adding that Bureau of Immigration records also identified Guo as a dependent of her mother, Lin Wen Yi, also from Fujian.
Luistro also noted that two of Guo’s business partners and fellow incorporators in Baofu — Lin Baoying and Rujin Zhang — who were both convicted of money laundering in Singapore, are also from Fujian.
“Based on research, Mr. Chair, the two incorporators by the name Baoying Lin and Rujin Zhang, both convicted of money laundering in Singapore, are all from Fujian, China,” she said. “I wonder, Mr. Chair, if these are merely coincidences?”
When asked, Guo denied knowing anything about the Fujian Gang. “Your Honor, I’m not aware. First time ko po siya narinig ngayon araw (It’s the first time for me to hear it today.”
Luistro’s interpellation revealed Guo’s ties to Lin and Zhang, who were convicted of laundering $3 billion in Singapore, along with another incorporator, Huang Zhiyang, who was implicated in cybercrimes following a raid in 2023. The Chinese citizens are involved in POGO operations, specifically Hongsheng and Zun Yuan.
During the hearing, Guo admitted that she is friends with Ong, the girlfriend of her brother Wesley, who earlier told the joint panel that the two of them are not really close and that they are not partners in the POGO business.
“(She’s) considered (as a friend),” Guo said when asked by Barbers if she knows Ong and considers her as a friend.
When Barbers asked if Ong’s statement that Wesley is his boyfriend is true, Guo said: “Yon po ‘yong deklarasyon po nila (That’s their declaration).”
“So boyfriend nga niya? (So is he really her boyfriend?)” Barbers asked, to which Guo replied, “Opo, kasi ‘yon po ‘yong sinasabi po din pala sa akin (Yes, because that’s what they are telling me).”
Lawmakers were trying to establish the relationship between Guo and Ong, especially since the two of them escaped together with Shiela Guo to Indonesia and Malaysia earlier last month until their arrest.
When asked to detail their escape and name who helped them, Guo requested for an executive session.
After a huddle, the panel chairmen later turned down Guo’s request for an executive session despite the pleadings of Nueva Ecija Rep. Emerson Pascual, who asked his colleagues to give Guo a chance to tell all.
Barbers explained that an executive session can only be called when the national security is involved and not a resource person’s personal security, which Guo was trying to invoke.
“I’m willing to tell truth, basta paniwalaan niyo lang po ako, sasabhin ko po lahat (just believe me, I’ll tell all),” said Guo, who repeatedly invoked her right against self-incrimination, citing the human trafficking and money-laundering charges she is facing.
When Barbers asked if she would be willing to name the local officials and police officials who facilitated her escape from the country, Guo said she could not do it because only a foreigner was involved.
“Wala naman po ako talaga ako nakausap (na local official) kaya ‘di po ako pwede mag-fabricate (I really didn’t talk to any local official, that’s why I can’t fabricate stories),” she said. “Isang tao lang po kausap ko (I only spoke to one person).”
Last night, the quad committee cited Guo in contempt on motion of Paduano who earlier warned her to stop being evasive.
Lawmakers were still determining where Guo will be detained throughout the duration of its hearings since the dismissed mayor is presently detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame.
Paduano said Guo seems to be enjoying her detention at the PNP Custodial Center, hinting at the possibility of transferring her to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.
