SHEILA Guo and Cassandra Li Ong face the prospect of being detained at the Pasay City jail should they refuse to talk when the Senate sub-committee on justice conducts an inquiry tomorrow, Tuesday, on how they and dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo escaped from the country and other matters related to the POGO industry.
In an interview with radio dwIZ last Saturday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said there have been precedents where resource persons who refused to talk during inquiries were ordered detained at the Pasay City Jail.
Pharmally executives Linconn Ong and Mohit Dargani were some of the resource persons ordered detained by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee from the Senate building to the Pasay City Jail for their continued failure to provide the panel necessary documents needed for the investigation.
“Puwede, nagawa na natin in the past na kinukulong sa Pasay City Jail (That’s possible. We have done it before, resource persons were ordered detained at Pasay City Jail),” Gatchalian said.
He said it would be very hard to believe that Sheila and Ong, who are detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), have no knowledge of how Alice Guo and their other siblings were able to leave the country. The two were deported by Indonesian authorities last Thursday.
He said Ong has strong connections with the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub that was raided in Porac, Pampanga since she was listed as one of the incorporators of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc., the operator of that POGO facility.
Ong also has links with Whirlwind Corporation, the company that leased the property where the POGO hub is located in Porac.
“Like for example si Cassandra, siya ang nasa sentro. Imposibleng hindi niya alam kung sino ang nagbibigay ng pera para magpatayo ng Porac POGO hub at lahat ng transaksiyon dumaraan sa Whirlwind. Siya ang secretary at siya ang naglakad ng lisensiya… Imposibleng sabihin niya na di niya alam kung saan nanggagaling ang pera, money trail (Like for example Cassandra, she is at the center of operations. It is impossible that she does not know who financed the construction of the Porac POGO hub. Besides, all transactions pass through Whirlwind Corporation where she is secretary who processes its licenses…It is also impossible that she does not know where all the money came from, the money trail),” Gatchalian said.
Gatchalian said Sheila and Ong should “tell all” relevant information in relation to the Porac and Bamban POGO hub operations and how they managed to slip out of the country.
“Sheila Guo plays a very important role. In most of the companies owned by the Guo family, she was an officer and stockholder. Ang ibig sabihin nito, kung ang Guo companies ay ginamit to fund the Bamban POGO hub, Sheila also has a role in that (This means that if the Guo companies were used to fund the Bamban POGO hub, Sheila also has a role in that),” he said.
Gatchalian said Ong, being an authorized representative of Lucky South 99, is also expected to provide information about the Porac POGO facility.
“In fact, she (Ong) went to Pagcor to discuss the licenses of Lucky South 99,” he added.
Gatchalian said the Senate sub-committee inquiry will unearth the masterminds behind the POGO firms, who helped them fund the POGO firms, and how vast their operations are.
“Sabihin rin nila kung sino pa ‘yung ibang mga negosyante na kasama nila dito sa operasyon na ito. Hindi lang mga foreign syndicates ang sangkot dito. Lumalabas na may mga local na negosyante rin silang kasama (They better disclose the identities of the other businessmen who are involved in illegal POGO operations; it is not only foreign (criminal) syndicates which are involved her. It turns out that there are local businessmen involved),” he added.
Sheila and Ong were arrested by Indonesian authorities last August 20 in a mall in Riau, Indonesia and sent back to the country last Thursday.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros earlier said that Alice Guo left the country last July 18 and arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the same day.
From Malaysia, she said Guo went to Singapore where she reportedly met with her parents — Guo Jiang Zhong and mother Lin Wen Yi — and was reunited with her siblings Sheila, and Wesley; and Ong last July 21.
They went to Batam, Indonesia last August 18.
Television reports, however, said Alice Guo went to Malaysia from Bali, Indonesia.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Alice Guo is attempting to enter the Golden Triangle, a region in mainland Southeast Asia covering four nations notorious for being under the influence of syndicates and triads. It spans the intersecting borders of the Mekong River, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia.
The PAOCC said Alice is not likely to head to China since authorities there are strictly against gambling.
“We’re confident that she’s trying to get into the Golden Triangle because the family, the Guo family, has business interests in Cambodia. So, that would be the safest bet that we have as of this moment,” PAOCC spokesman Winston Casio said in a news forum last Saturday.
