AT least two Chinese men and a Singaporean connected to the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) industry helped dismissed mayor Alice Guo, aka Guo Hua Ping, escape last July, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday.
Gatchalian identified the three as Huang Zhiyang, said to be the “boss of all bosses” of the illegal POGO industry; Duanren Wu, allegedly connected to the Lucky South 99 Company that operated the POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga; and Zhang Jie, a Singaporean who is the former president of Lucky South 99 wanted for fraud in his country.
Gatchalian said the three facilitated Guo’s escape that took her and her siblings to Malaysia and then to Indonesia, where she was arrested last week.
Gatchalian said Huang also has links to the illegal POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac; Porac, Pampanga; and Sun Valley in Fontana, Clark, also in Pampanga.
“Obviously, he [Huang] played a big role in the escape of Guo Hua Ping. His name has been coming out in the escape of Guo Hua Ping to Malaysia and Indonesia. The same goes with Duanren Wu. I have seen a report that Duanren Wu was involved in her escape,” Gatchalian said in a press conference.
He said Zhang provided hotel accommodation for Guo and her siblings, Shiela and Wesley.
Gatchalian said he also has information that Wu was one of the “active personalities” in a group also involved in illegal operations in other Southeast Asian countries.
He said the three had long left the country, adding Huang had left Taiwan and is now in Hong Kong. Huang is the holder of five passports.
He said the three needed to be charged and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) informed so their movement could be limited.
Gatchalian added that he also received information that some Filipinos helped Guo escape but the info has yet to be verified.
The camp of Alice Guo has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to junk the material misrepresentation complaint filed by the poll body’s Law Department, citing its supposed reliance on questionable evidence.
In her nine-page counter-affidavit submitted yesterday, Guo said the Comelec has to dismiss the complaint filed last August 8 as a result of the fact-finding probe ordered by the poll body on alleged misdeclarations in her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the May 2022 polls.
“(W)hen I filed my Certificate of Candidacy, I have made declarations on my personal information, such as my citizenship and domicile, on the basis of the legitimate documents in my possession, which documents were issued by the Philippine government and which remain valid and existing since the time I filed my COC and still as of this writing. Hence, I humbly but strongly submit that I have not made any false material representation,” said Guo.
She slammed the complainant for allegedly failing to validly dispute her birth certificate, which states that she is a Filipino citizen. She said the question on her citizenship remains pending despite the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation.
“With due respect, unless otherwise declared to be invalid, said birth certificate is deemed valid and regular on its face. Thus, it is conclusive proof of my identity as a Filipino,” she said.
Guo said the complaint must be dismissed due to the questionable validity of the evidence presented supposedly proving that she and Hua Ping Lin Guo are “one and the same person.”
The NBI has declared Guo as a Chinese citizen masquerading as a Filipino based on the results of the comparative examinations of the fingerprints of Guo and Gua Hua Ping. — With Gerard Naval
