Guo cited in contempt for evasive testimony

MANILA, Philippines — For the second time, the Senate cited dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo in contempt, this time for refusing to confirm her identity – whether she is Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping – and give details on alleged threats to her life.

The visibly exasperated senators took turns yesterday grilling Guo about her identity during the continuation of the hearing of the Senate committee on women, children and family affairs chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

Although cited again in contempt, Guo remained in the custody of the Philippine National Police and would only be placed under Senate custody if she posts bail, Hontiveros clarified.

Senators asked if she was Chinese Guo Hua Ping, to which she replied that cases have been filed against her in court.

Guo also refused to confirm the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding her fingerprints.

“Honestly, I don’t know how it happened. I just know, I know I’m Alice Guo. And I’m sorry if you don’t believe,” Guo told the committee.

She added that she “grew up knowing I was a Filipino.”

Hontiveros then moved “to cite Guo Hua Ping, alias Alice Guo, in contempt in the Senate for testifying falsely and evasively before this committee.”

Senators Joel Villanueva and JV Ejercito seconded her motion.

“You will remain in the custody of the Senate until the conclusion of this committee inquiry or until you finally recognize the authority of this body and grant even a semblance of respect for the laws of this country. The committee will coordinate with any court ordering your detention, but you need to respect the Senate,” she added.

“Alice Guo is continuing to lie to this committee despite glaring evidence that she is a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping, whose father Jian Zhong Guo is Chinese based on her own declaration in this committee and whose mother Lin Wen Yi is also Chinese based on her own declarations in bank documents verified by the AMLC,” Hontiveros said, referring to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

“This is a blatant defiance of the legislative’s constitutional power of inquiry. It appears that you are playing with our law and making Filipinos spin. Don’t do that to the Senate,” she added.

5 death threats

Alice Guo told the Senate she received threats to her life five times from foreign and local individuals, but she did not name them.

“I think about June this year. More than five times, through phone. I really want to discuss it with you and I also apologize to you, I am also really afraid to disclose it to the public,” Guo responded to Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada’s inquiry on the threats.

“My understanding is, if I reveal the information in an executive session, this will not be made public. I worry about my safety. This Senate hearing will come to an end but I will continue to fear for my life,” she added.

Villanueva said the former mayor still refused to speak the truth even when the NBI already “established that Alice Guo’s and Guo Hua Ping’s fingerprints matched.”

Sen. Bong Go urged Guo to tell the truth as her evasive answers only lead to a lot of speculations and conspiracy theories that implicated innocent individuals, including former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“The truth will be your only ally and protector, Ms. Alice Guo. Don’t waste the opportunity we are giving you here in the Senate. Just tell the truth,” Go said.

Go said he was not in the hearing to defend Duterte.

“Knowing former president Duterte for the longest time, he doesn’t really agree with (POGO, it) being illegal. When he was mayor, he himself warned the one who was always linked to him, Michael Yang, in Davao,” Go added.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos said in an interview at Camp Crame that Guo mentioned her fears but did not disclose any names or give any details.

“She mentioned that she was afraid of certain people, but she did not name anyone,” Abalos said in Filipino, adding that she only referred to them in generic terms as “big people.”

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the former mayor and her family’s corporations paid billions of pesos in electric bills – proof of her active participation in Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs.

Using information from the NBI, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and Anti-Money Laundering Council, Gatchalian presented to the Senate panel evidence that Guo paid on separate occasions P28 million in cash, P5.4 million in checks and another P3.44 million to the Tarlac Electric Cooperative.

The paper trail, Gatchalian pointed out, showed that Guo’s companies QJJ Farm and QSEEDs paid for the electric bills of Baofu Land.

Guo invoked her right against self-incrimination and denied having anything to do with POGO.

Yacht from Manila

Guo admitted that she and her siblings used a yacht, a big vessel and a small boat to get out of the country, corroborating the testimony of her sister Shiela during an earlier Senate hearing.

She also said no immigration or other government officials helped them in their escape.

Guo recalled boarding a yacht at a dock in Metro Manila but declined to name the yacht owner and the person who processed their boarding papers. Later, she wrote the information and submitted it to the senators.

“We left through a port in Manila. But I don’t know whether it was the north or south pier,” Guo said.

She added that they left the pier in Manila using a white yacht, then moved to a large ship and small boat.

Guo also could not remember how many hours they traveled by sea to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) denied yesterday the alleged sightings of Guo at Emon Pulo Beach Resort in San Antonio, Zambales, contrary to an earlier claim of the PAOCC.

Lt. Commander Michael John Encina, PCG acting spokesman, said investigation “showed there was no yacht that docked at the Emon Pulo or in other areas in Zambales last July. There was no sighting of the said subject person.”

He also said PCG personnel only met a lookalike of former mayor Guo. This person, he added, is an employee of the Emon Pulo Beach Resort. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Evelyn Macairan