The Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) saga continues and this time, dismissed mayor Alice Guo’s companions are now under the government’s custody.
Philippine authorities reported on August 22 that Guo’s sister, Sheila, and Katherine Cassandra Ong, who is tagged in the Porac, Pampanga POGO, were under Indonesia’s custody. The two were deported to the Philippines on Thursday afternoon, and have since been held by authorities.
What happens to them and how can their arrest benefit authorities in tracing the whereabouts of Guo, who has been out of the country since last month?
The two arrived in the Philippines past 5 pm and later were transported to the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) main office in Manila. There, Guo and Ong underwent a medical check-up and inquest before the BI. Afterwards, they were transferred to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Since there’s no warrant of arrest against the two, as they have no known violation, they underwent an inquest proceeding — an expedited type of preliminary investigation because they were detained without a warrant. Under the Revised Penal Code, a person arrested without a warrant should be brought to court within a maximum of 36 hours, and that’s already for grave violations.
The only arrest order against the two were based on legislative orders: The Senate’s arrest order against Guo for snubbing the hearings, and the House order against Ong for doing the same.
Based on the mugshots released by the NBI on Friday afternoon, Guo faces charges for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 11983 or the New Philippine Passport Act and article 172 of the Revised Penal Code or falsification of documents. Ong, meanwhile, is charged with obstruction of justice.
On top of these criminal cases, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval told Rappler that Guo allegedly committed an immigration violation, which stems from her true citizenship. Authorities said Guo faces an immigration charge for misrepresentation since she allegedly acquired her Philippine passport fraudulently and even holds a Chinese passport.
Guo’s mugshot bore the name of “Zhang Mier,” which is her true identity according to the authorities.
“Comparative fingerprint analysis shows that the Chinese Zhang Mier and Sheila L. Guo are one and the same person. So, iisa ‘yon. (They’re the same person.) So, we can conclude na si (that) Sheila L. Guo na nasa amin ngayon ay isang Chinese (who’s now with us is Chinese),” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said during a press conference on Friday, August 23.
Ong has no immigration violation and holds a Philippine passport.
Since the two were arrested by virtue of legislative arrest orders, they should be put under the custody of the Senate and House. However, Senate President Chiz Escudero clarified on Thursday afternoon that the two will be placed under the NBI’s custody so the BI and the NBI can conduct inquest proceedings.
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, among the legislators who led the probe into POGOs, said she’s expecting the two to attend the Senate hearing on Tuesday, August 28.
“I think, on Tuesday, there’s a Senate hearing so we will bring them there,” Santiago said.
Both Guo and Ong may be detained in the Senate and House premises as part of the punishments that come with being cited in contempt. The Senate arrest order did not explicitly state the duration of Guo’s detention in the Senate, but legislative bodies can only detain a person held in contempt for only as long as the inquiry is ongoing.
As for Ong, she may be detained in the House premises for 30 days, as stated in the arrest order.
Despite the arrest and deportation of both Guo and Ong, the fact that Alice Guo is still free remains.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) spokesperson Winston Casio told reporters on Thursday that the dismissed mayor is still in Indonesia, while their brother, Wesley, is no longer in the neighboring nation, but in another “undisclosed” country. The BI has different information because Sandoval said on Friday that just like Alice, Wesley is still in Indonesia, too.
It was Hontiveros who first revealed on Monday that Guo had already left the country, before immigration and law enforcement officials could even announce it. Citing her sources, Hontiveros said that Guo met with her father Guo Jian Zhong, mother Lin Wen Yi, her brother Wesley, and Ong in Singapore.
So when exactly did immigration authorities know about Guo’s departure?
“As far as the Bureau of Immigration is concerned, we got the information last August 15. And it just so happened that when we got that information, I was in Vietnam attending the annual conference of immigration authorities in ASEAN. So when we got the info, I already made initial verification with my counterparts for checking,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a mix of Filipino and English.
“We did not immediately issue any statement until we [had] validated the information, because we don’t want to spread disinformation. So we needed to validate first. So when we were able to validate that she’s in this specific place, I immediately sent a formal request to counterparts to give us assistance in recovering them,” the immigration chief added.
Like her sister, the dismissed mayor of Bamban, Tarlac is covered by the Senate arrest order. There’s no warrant of arrest against her from the court yet because the prosecutors are processing the trafficking and tax evasion complaints filed against her. There are also pending petitions seeking the cancellation of her birth certificate, as well as a quo warranto case that aims to invalidate her Filipino citizenship.
Guo is at the center of these controversies due to her alleged ties with an illegal POGO in her town.
“The connection is there. It proves the connection between Bamban and Porac operations,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said, describing the supposed connection between the Guos and Ong.
Aside from being a sister of the dismissed mayor, Sheila is also a co-incorporator in Baofu Land Development Incorporated, which leased its land to Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc., later renamed Zun Yuan Technology. This is the raided POGO, with whom Guo has ties.
Ong, meanwhile, has ties to the Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga. Authorities said the Porac POGO was a hotbed for various illicit activities, including human trafficking, forced labor, and scams. Ong hired former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque for the real estate firm Whirlwind that leased its land to the Porac POGO.
The arrest of the two can further help in the probe into illegal POGOs. Hontiveros said Ong was under close monitoring because she is essential in determining who should be implicated in relation to the Lucky South 99 POGO.
“What’s Ong’s ties with Alice Guo, Harry Roque, and others? Who let her and Alice Guo’s sister leave the country, and why is our immigration system full of loopholes? I believe all these questions will be answered in our next hearing,” Hontiveros said. – Rappler.com
