DISMISSED Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo may have used a private airstrip in the country to escape to Malaysia last July, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said their analysis of how Guo managed to slip out of the country showed she did not use any major international airport or seaport.
“We believe that she might have used a private airstrip, upang iligal po na makaalis ng bansa (to illegally leave the country) without the knowledge of authorities,” Sandoval told Unang Balita
Sandoval explained that private airstrips are usually managed by a ground handler who informs and asks for clearance from concerned government agencies.
She said they are now investigating this angle to pin down those who assisted Guo in leaving the country despite her name being included in the BI’s immigration lookout bulletin order.
Sandoval added they are also coordinating with their Malaysian counterparts to check the flight manifests of aircraft that arrived in Malaysia during that period.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Viado told a Senate hearing earlier this week that Guo entered Malaysia through a flight that landed on July 18.
She was later apprehended in Indonesia and turned over to Philippine authorities last September 5.
Guo and her supposed sister, Sheila Guo, told the Senate inquiry that they fled the Philippines aboard boats before arriving in Sabah.
Guo is facing a non-bailable qualified human trafficking case before a Pasig court as well as a graft case before a Valenzuela court.
The Office of the Solicitor General has also filed a quo warranto petition against her to cancel her birth certificate.
Money laundering charges had also been filed against her before the Department of Justice.
Lawmakers and the DOJ are also looking at claims that she is a Chinese spy.
International television news channel Al Jazeera aired a documentary in which Guo was tagged as a Chinese spy by Chinese businessman She Zhijiang, who is jailed in Thailand.
She, who is fighting extradition to China, identified Guo as Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping.
The dismissed mayor has denied being a Chinese spy or knowing She.
Allegations that Guo may be a spy surfaced after the Senate probed her alleged links to the operation of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban that was raided by the authorities due to alleged illegal activities, aided in no small part by the murky details of her citizenship.
OTHER GUOS?
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said it has received reports about other Chinese citizens occupying local government positions, just like Guo before her dismissal as mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.
This statement, coming from PAOCC executive Gilbert Cruz, bolstered the earlier statement of Sen. JV Ejercito who expressed the belief there are more Chinese citizens holding positions in local government units.
Ejercito said he has met some of the Chinese who have been elected to local positions, adding the Commission on Elections should conduct a probe “so we can prevent another Alice Guo (from) being able to run again in our government.”
“We (have) received reports although these are subject to validation,” said Cruz, adding: “We’ve been receiving a lot of messages especially now that the election is coming.”
The eight-day filing of certificates of candidacies for candidates ended last Tuesday.
“We have to validate (these reports). We’re validating the information that reached us,” said Cruz, adding: “That’s possible, that it’s not limited to Alice Guo.” — With Victor Reyes