Marcos: We will expose the culprits
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said heads will roll over the inexplicable escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, adding that government personnel who aided her would be held accountable.
In a social media post, the President said Guo managing to slip out of the country while being investigated over alleged illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOS) “laid bare the corruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust.
“Let me be clear: Heads will roll. We will expose the culprits who have betrayed the people’s trust and aided in her flight,” Marcos said.
He said a full-scale investigation is already underway, and those responsible would be suspended and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
“There is no room in this government for anyone who places personal interest above serving the Filipino people with honor, integrity and justice,” he stressed.
The Office of the President (OP) has directed the Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Justice Departments (DOJ) to cancel the Philippine passports issued to Guo and family members Wesley Leal Guo and Sheila Leal Guo, and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, who is also being tagged in POGO operations in the country.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Guo arrived in Kuala Lumpur last July 19 and flew to Singapore to meet her family and later traveled to Indonesia.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said the DFA has relayed the details of the passports of Guo, her siblings, and the incorporator of an illegal POGO hub to the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes-International Police Organization for their “proper action.”
“Ni-raise na nila sa atensiyon ng Interpol ‘yung passport nitong apat na taong ito para puwedeng maging subject ng kung ano mang action na sa tingin ng Interpol ay tamang dapat gawin (The DFA has called the attention of the Interpol regarding these four individuals so they can be subjected to whatever action the Interpol deems right),” Hontiveros said at the Kapihan sa Senado.
Hontiveros said the information was relayed to her by the DFA after she disclosed in a privileged speech last Monday that Guo traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last July 18 where she reunited with her siblings Sheila and Wesley, and Cassandra Li Ong, one of the incorporators of Lucky South 99 which operated the illegal POGO firm raided in Porac, Pampanga.
Hontiveros said the DFA’s move is a significant step in limiting the movements of Guo and company.
She said Guo and the rest can be placed under investigation by Interpol based on what the latter may determine as the illegal acts committed by the four.
Hontiveros said the DFA also wrote a letter to the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration last June 26 and July 9 to inform them that Guo mis-declared her identity and citizenship on her passport applications.
She added the DFA also requested to crossmatch the biometrics records of Guo with the NBI and BI so they could use them as “evidence to establish the fraudulent identity” of Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping.
She said the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs also included Guo’s and her family’s passports in its watchlist database as a “precautionary measure” so they cannot be issued new passports.
Hontiveros said President Marcos Jr.’s order to cancel Guo’s passport is a most welcome development to the case.
SUB-COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE
Hontiveros said Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino, who chairs the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, has created a sub-committee led by Hontiveros that will investigate Guo’s escape.
She said the subcommittee’s first hearing will be held Tuesday next week (August 27).
“Iimbestigahan lahat ng issue, lalong-lalo na ‘yung tanong na paano, bakit at sino ang mga kasabwat o pabaya sa pagtakas ni Alice Guo (We will investigate all the issues related to Guo’s escape, especially to the questions how and who are her cohorts),” she added.
She said all persons mentioned in news reports and reports from concerned agencies would be invited to the hearing, including the lawyer who claimed Guo personally executed her counter-affidavit last August 14.
Senate President Francis Escudero said it is high time the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) created general aviation terminals in key airports nationwide to strictly monitor outbound and inbound passengers of private aircraft.
He said the general aviation terminals would be manned by Bureau of Immigration and Bureau of Customs personnel so they could check on the passengers of private planes.
He said passengers of private planes are only required to present their passports while waiting for the flights in the hangars, which will then be given to BI personnel to be marked.
Escudero said private planes in hangars are also not subjected to Customs examinations when they depart or arrive in the country.
Once created, the passengers of inbound and outbound international flights will strictly pass through the general aviation terminal for screening and checking of records.
“Dapat lahat ng airport may general aviation terminal (Every airport should have a general aviation terminal),” he said.
NBI PROBE
The National Bureau of Investigation said it is probing how Guo managed to flee the country despite multiple government agencies looking for her and being the subject of an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO).
“Tuloy-tuloy ang aming imbestigasyon (Our investigation is continuing),” NBI Director Jaime Santiago told reporters in a chance interview at the Department of Justice yesterday afternoon.
Santiago said the NBI is also coordinating with Interpol but declined to provide additional details.
“Nakikipag-usap at nakikipag-coordinate tayo sa Interpol pero wala pang sagot sa amin (We are talking and coordinating with the Interpol but it has yet to reply to us),” Santiago said.
Since there is no court-issued warrant against the dismissed local chief executive, the best the Interpol can issue is a blue notice, which Santiago said is a “watch out” or similar to the ILBO.
A “blue notice,” according to Interpol’s website, seeks to collect additional information and data about an individual’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
A red notice, on the other hand, is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
It is based on an arrest warrant or court order issued by the judicial authorities in the requesting country. Member countries apply their laws on deciding whether to arrest a person.
CAUGHT OFF-GUARD
The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said it was caught off guard by the departure of Guo amid an investigation into her supposed involvement in criminal activities.
During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said an investigation is underway to determine how Guo left the country without passing through immigration.
Citing information from Indonesian authorities, Casio said Guo was still in Indonesia as of yesterday.
“As of this (Wednesday) morning, we coordinated with our counterparts in Indonesia. Apparently, she is still there,” Casio said.
Casio could not immediately say exactly when Guo left the country because “she does not appear in any commercial flight records, we didn’t see immigration records.”
The Justice Department issued an immigration lookout bulletin against Guo and several others last June.
“We were caught off guard, so obviously somebody dropped the ball. This requires a thorough investigation,” Casio said.
He said Guo must have used three possible exit points — the northernmost tip of Luzon, the westernmost tip of Luzon, and the Mindanao backdoor.
Casio said that if Guo used an airport or seaport, officials should have a record of her departure and should have reported the matter to the immigration lookout.
He said someone may have helped Guo leave the country or authorities may have been remiss of their duties.
Casio said the PAOCC is coordinating with other government agencies, “getting as many leads as we can.”
“It’s still too early to tell,” Casio said, referring to the result of their investigation. “But in the next few days, we’d have to come up with a definite and concrete answer as to how she was able to get out of the country. Otherwise, we’d be the laughingstock of our ASEAN neighbors.”
Last Tuesday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who chairs the PAOCC, ordered the DFA and DOJ to cancel the passports of Guo and her companions.
Casio said Guo and her party had lost their “primary travel requirement” after the cancellation of their passports.
“That will trigger what we call blue notice and red notice of the Interpol and that would allow the law enforcement agencies of that area to arrest them and transfer them to the Philippines. We are already going through that procedure as of now,” said Casio.
The Senate has issued an arrest warrant against Guo for failing to attend its hearing on the illegal POGO operation in Bamban and Pampanga.
Last June, the PAOCC filed charges of qualified human trafficking before the justice department against Guo. Casio said they expect a resolution on the complaint by early next month.
If the DOJ indicts Guo, Casio said an arrest warrant can be issued against the dismissed mayor.
“If that happens, that will be another triggering mechanism for us to get what we call the international arrest warrant or red notice from the Interpol,” said Casio.
Guo is also facing tax evasion charges before the DOJ filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue last week.
Guo has executed a counter-affidavit about the qualified human trafficking case against her.
“That is another issue we are going to investigate because Atty. (Elmer) Galicia, who subscribed her counter-affidavit, said Guo Hua Ping personally appeared before him last August 14,” said Casio.
Casio said they didn’t believe Galicia’s declaration, noting that Gou was already out of the country at that time.
Casio had earlier said Guo went to Malaysia (from Indonesia) on July 18 and Singapore (from Malaysia) on July 21.
Last August 18, Guo went to Indonesia (from Singapore) where she is reportedly still staying as of yesterday.
Casio said they are gathering “verified information” from the DFA and DOJ about Guo’s departure from the Philippines.
“And once we get those, we would have enough to be able to file criminal charges as well against Atty. Galicia because it appears he is lying,” said Casio.
HOUSE MOVE
Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the House committee on public order and safety, said the House should no longer investigate who facilitated Guo’s flight and just let the Senate carry out the probe “so we can concentrate on some equally important matters.
“Let the Senate handle the issue,” said Fernandez, whose panel is among the four House committees investigating the alleged links among POGOs, the illegal drug trade and the extrajudicial killings tied to the Duterte administration’s controversial anti-drug campaign.
Fernandez said the Senate should zero in on the role of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), adding that Guo “most likely” flew out of the country using cargo planes.
“Madaling magpalusot diyan especially if you will ride two or three persons lang sa mga cargo planes. They need to check if may record ng alis, if none, sa cargo plane ‘yan sumakay (It’s easy to leave via the backdoor especially if only two or three persons will board cargo planes. They need to check the record of departure, if none, that means Guo boarded a cargo plane),” he said. — With Raymond Africa, Ashzel Hachero, Victor Reyes, and Wendell Vigilia
