SENATE deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros yesterday said the Committee on Women would investigate the possible involvement of suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s family and associates to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators’ activities.
Hontiveros said the National Bureau of Investigation report that a sibling of Guo had also faked his identity means he could be involved in crimes being linked to the mayor.
Last Wednesday, the NBI said that Wesley Leal Guo, whose real name is Guo Xiang Dian, is a Chinese citizen based on fingerprint matching using biometric records and records from the Board of Investments.
Guo Xiang Dian arrived in the Philippines in 1999 and was listed as one of the dependents of Lin Wen Yi, the suspected biological mother of Alice.
“If the brother of Mayor Alice Guo faked his identity, it could be possible that he is involved in crimes associated with Alice,” Hontiveros said.
“We should also investigate the possible complicity of her family and associates. We have subpoenaed them in the next hearing,” she added.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the NBI’s findings prove the late birth registration process “was abused by the Guo family to falsely claim that they are Filipinos.”
He said Guo Xiang Dian has a current Chinese passport that will expire in 2025.
“He used both his Chinese and Philippine passports interchangeably from 2003 onwards,” he said.
Gatchalian earlier urged Mayor Guo to cooperate with authorities to reveal all she knows about illegal POGO operations.
However, Gatchalian said the mayor cannot be a state witness “because she is not the least guilty.”
“She is at the center of Hong Sheng POGO hub by applying for the Letter of No Objection and other LGU permits,” Gatchalian said.
Hong Sheng was the operator of the POGO hub located in Bamban, Tarlac that was raided by authorities in February 2023. It was also on that same site where Zuan Yuan Technologies Inc. operated a POGO facility raided last March.
Guo faces charges of qualified human trafficking in connection with the POGO hub raided in her hometown in Bamban, Tarlac.
