Mayor Guo surfaces… on Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Her whereabouts unknown since being ordered arrested by the Senate, suspended Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac appeared on Facebook (Meta) yesterday to deny she was behind an alleged plot to assassinate Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Risa Hontiveros, who are leading an investigation on her possible links to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

In a post shared by her legal counsel Stephen David, Guo also defended her decision not to appear before the Senate committee on women, children, family and gender equality chaired by Hontiveros, saying her health and peace of mind are her priority.

“I categorically deny any involvement in the death threats received by Sen. Win Gatchalian. I have no capacity, much less intent, to cause any harm against anyone. In fact, I myself have been receiving actual and online threats since the start of this issue,” she said on Facebook where she has more than 100,000 followers.

“I am well-aware of the feeling of receiving threats against my person, safety and security. Thus, I strongly condemn such inhumane or callous acts,” Guo said.

Her counsel David is in Europe.

She said the last two Senate hearings which she attended left her severely exhausted and traumatized.

“My primary priority now is my health and peace of mind, so that I can properly address all the legal issues directed at me,” Guo maintained. 

The suspended mayor said she does not wish to be used by anyone to boost his or her political ambitions. “Our country faces many critical issues such as national security, poverty, unemployment, food shortage, health care delivery, environmental degradation and human rights violations. I appeal to them to focus their attention on these problems instead of continuously threatening me with arrest and accusing me of being complicit in various Philippine offshore gaming operations-related crimes, which are untrue and unfounded,” she said.

“Am I really the country’s biggest problem that they need to focus on? Or is it just because they are gaining popularity at my expense that they will not leave me alone?” 

Guo assured the public and the senators that she does not pose any threat to them or to anyone.

“While multiple open cases have been filed against me, I am deeply concerned about and keep questioning why Senator Win Gatchalian, Senator Risa Hontiveros and the other offices seem fixated on me. If they have evidence against me, I am ready to face them in a fair trial and at a proper forum,” she pointed out. “I believe in and adhere to the rule of law, and not the rule of men.”

She stressed that news linking her to various illegal activities is baseless. “I have nothing to do with these issues, but I am being accused of all sorts of things because I am currently at the center of public attention,” the suspended mayor said.

“If anyone can disregard my right to data privacy by prying into my personal records, they will know whether I have left the Philippines by simply asking the BI (Bureau of Immigration) and the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), as I do not hold a Chinese passport,” she said. “I appeal to everyone to focus on facts and not on mere opinions.”

‘Allergic to liars’

Hontiveros bristled at Guo’s claim that the Senate seems fixated on her in its investigation on POGOs.

“Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping, you have more time for your Facebook posts than your actual attendance at the Senate. Attendance before the Senate hearings is adherence to the rule of law,” Hontiveros said.

“How can you have peace of mind when you are avoiding our questions? Don’t worry, we are not fixated on you. We are allergic to liars,” she added.

Hontiveros accused Guo of lying about her Filipino identity, when she is in fact a full-blooded Chinese with alleged links to a syndicate behind the illegal offshore gaming operations in Bamban, Tarlac.

Guo turned a blind eye on the human trafficking and digital scams perpetrated by the POGO which proliferated during her time as mayor, Hontiveros said.

In a statement yesterday, Gatchalian lauded the business community for supporting the senators’ position to ban POGOs.

“I am delighted to learn that major business groups in the country support our advocacy to ban POGOs in the country in line with the position taken by our economic managers,” Gatchalian said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Rhodina Villanueva