Claim: Suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and Senator Risa Hontiveros are close friends, as evidenced by a widely circulated selfie of the two.
Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok post bearing the claim has gained 12,800 views, 49 reactions, and 34 comments, as of writing.
The post suggests that Hontiveros and Guo are friends, with superimposed text reading, “Alice Guo trinaydor ng BFF nyang si Risa HontiViruz.” (Alice Guo betrayed her BFF, Risa Hontiveros.)
“#Risa HontiViruz kumita nga ba sa POGO drama kay Alice Guo [?]” the post also states. (#Did Risa Hontiveros profit from the POGO drama involving Alice Guo?)
“HontiVirus” is a play on Hontiveros’s name and the word “virus,” a term used pejoratively by her critics like Harry Roque, former presidential spokesperson for Rodrigo Duterte.
Similar posts have been shared across other social media platforms.
The facts: The circulating photos of Guo and Hontiveros are fake.
“Wala akong kaibigan na pekeng Pilipino. Mag-ingat po sa mga edited photos online na magkasama kami ‘di umano at magkaibigan daw kami. This is fake,” Hontiveros said on a Facebook post on Friday, August 23.
(I don’t have any fake Filipino friends. Please be cautious of edited photos online that falsely claim we are together and friends. This is fake.)
She also urged social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok to moderate such “AI-generated content.”
“We will get to the bottom of who is circulating this,” Hontiveros said.
POGO probe: Hontiveros is leading the investigation into the illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
This probe uncovered Guo’s connections to illegal POGOs in Bamban, Tarlac, and Porac, Pampanga.
Questions about Guo’s real identity were also raised during the investigation with pieces of evidence pointing that she is Chinese and that she stole someone’s identity.
Currently, Guo is nowhere to be found. Hontiveros on Monday afternoon, August 19, revealed that Guo already left the country – traveling to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Alice’s sister Sheila and Katherine Cassandra Ong are now under the Philippines’ custody after being held by immigration authorities of Indonesia. Ong, also known as Cassy Ong or Cassy Li, has ties to the Lucky South 99 POGO in Porac, Pampanga.
Alice is facing multiple criminal complaints, including tax evasion, human trafficking, and graft. – James Patrick Cruz/Rappler.com
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