Senators on Tuesday, May 7 grilled Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo over her supposed origin and her alleged links in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO ) company based in Tarlac.
This, comes after Senator Risa Hontiveros, head of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, questioned Guo as to who helped fund her campaign during the last local elections and why there was little to no information about her origins.
It was Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian who initially bared Guo’s alleged ties to Zuan Yuan Technology Inc. and Hong Sheng and said it is imperative to thoroughly investigate the possible links between Guo and these POGO firms.
Earlier, authorities raided the Baofu compound where the POGO firm Zun Yuan Technology Inc. is located due to suspicious activities following complaints of human trafficking and serious detention.
Hontiveros said she could not understand how Guo, then a very private person and businesswoman, would suddenly become a mayor of Bamban.
“Figuratively, out of nowhere, you became a mayor of Bamban; some might think it's a refreshing break in the usual political dynasty, but of course we want to know more about you,” Hontiveros said addressing Guo.
But Guo, who was present at the continuation of the panel’s investigation, denied she is a protector of POGO.
“Unang una po hindi ako konektado at hindi po ako operator, hindi po ako protector or coddler po ng POGO. Wala po akong kinalaman sa kanilang operation at saka kahit anong gawains sa loob at labas po ng POGO (First of all, I’m not connected, and I’m not an operator or coddler of POGO. I’m not involved in their operation and anything happening inside or outside of POGO),” Guo explained during the hearing.
“Dati po akong incorporator ng Baofu ngunit ito po ay aking naibenta bago pa po ako pumasok sa pulitika. Meron po akong dokumento na magpapatunay po nito (I was a former incorporator of Baofu but I have already sold my shares before I entered politics. I have documents to prove this),” the mayor added.
Guo also clarified that the Ford Expedition that authorities found inside the property and was supposedly under her name had long been sold way back in 2020 and she neither used or saw the said vehicle.
“Wala rin pong katotohanan na pag mamay ari ko po kahit isang villa sa compound at ni minsan po di ako natulog dun. Sa katunayan po di ko po nakita ang kalahatan ng mga villas na naitayo pagkatapos ko po mag divest ng shares sa Baofu (It’s also not true that I own one of the villas in the compound and I never slept there. In fact, I’ve never seen the whole of the villas that were built there after I divested my shares in Baofu),” she told the panel.
However, when asked who were the source of her funds for the elections, Guo said they were fellow hog raisers since she has been in the business for years.
Senators also confronted Guo why her birth registration was delayed and why the registration only occured when she reached the age of 17-years old. There were also no hospital records of her birth, claiming she was born “inside the house.”
When pressed about her education records, Guo claimed she was homeschooled since elementary until high school. She said she didn’t go to college. She failed to provide the name of her homeschool provider and could only remember the name of her teacher as “Teacher Rubylyn.” She also claimed she has been living in their farm.
Asked about the identity of her parents, Guo said she did not grow up with her mother, Amelia Leal. Her father, Anghelito Guo, she claimed, is also a private businessman. Guo could not also identify where her parents got married. Nevertheless, she said, she knows that her father is half-Chinese and half-Filipino.
Guo also admitted that her family owns a black helicopter which they bought sometime in 2018 or 2019. They have sold the helicopter just this year, the mayor said.
Asked about the relationship of Hongsheng and Baofu, Guo said it was supposedly as “lessor and lessee.”
Asked if Baofu is a Filipino-owned company, Guo said yes and that she was one of the incorporators of the firm, but it entered a joint venture with a Chinese company.
The Bamban mayor said she represents the 60 percent of Baofu, which is Filipino-owned and 40 percent is owned by a certain Chinese investor named Xi Xin Yang and others.
Hontiveros expressed her dismay over the information provided by Guo, saying she finds this very alarming.
“Imbes na tapusin na sana natin itong mga pagdinig sa POGO, itong hearing ay mas lalong nagbukas pa ng mas maraming tanong (Instead of me wanting to close this POGO hearing, this hearing further opened more questions to us),” the senator said.
“I have to confess I am most alarmed by how opaque Mayor Alice Guo’s answers have been, especially about her personal background.
No school records from grade school to high school. No hospital records dahil pinanganak sa bahay (because the birth delivery happened inside a residence),” she lamented.
Through Gatchalian’s questioning, Guo also could not confirm whether the same address of some persons were that of her relatives.
“At bilang public servants, gaya ng sinabi ko na kanina, transparency ang isa sa pinakamahalagang katangian. Kaya nakakadismaya talaga ang mga sagot nila (And as public servants, like what I said earlier, transparency is a very important trait. That’s why her answers are so disappointing),” Hontiveros lamented.
“Ngayon pa na may mga (but now there are) documentary evidence linking the local chief executive to crime-infested POGO operations in her own town. POGO operations that we now know are possibly connected to hacking and surveillance activities.
All of us can easily deduce what this might imply,” she pointed out.
“Baka sa mga nanood sa ating hearing, baka may magtanong pa kung totoong Pilipino nga ba si Mayor? Baka may magtanong kung (To those watching our hearing, there may be questions, is Mayor a Filipino? There may be those questioning if) she really has a stake in her town’s economic development, and if she really has a stake in our country’s national interest?” she added.
Also during the hearing, the panel chief ordered Guo to submit to the committee a copy of her Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) and her Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE).
Gatchalian also moved for the issuance of a subpoena against the registered incorporators of Zun Yuan, namely Jaimielyn Cruz, president and chairman of the company, Roderick Paul Pujante, the director and treasurer, and Juan Miguel Alpas, the supposed director corporate secretary, after they failed to attend the chamber’s investigation. Hontiveros approved Gatchalian’s motion.