'Na-blangko ako,' Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo tells broadcast journalist Karen Davila as she recalls her experience when she faced senators during a hearing
PAMPANGA, Philippines – Controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo broke her silence regarding her alleged involvement in Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) and the mystery surrounding her identity, claiming that she is a love child of a Chinese and a Filipina.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News anchor Karen Davila on Monday, May 20, and in a statement she posted on her official Facebook page the same day, Guo denied being a spy or an asset of another country.
She repeatedly asserted her Filipino identity, pointing out that she holds a Philippine passport.
Guo said she obtained her first Philippine passport by the time she was 17 or 19 years old, between 2003 and 2005.
Twelve days after being questioned during a joint Senate panel hearing, the mayor claimed to be the love child of Angelito Guo, a Chinese, and Amelia Leal, a Filipina who worked as a house help for her father’s wife. This claim could not be independently verified as of posting time.
During the May 7 hearing, however, Guo told senators that she was uncertain about whether her parents were married or not.
“Na-blangko ako (I blanked out),” Guo said of the seeming inconsistencies in her pronouncements as she recalled her experience when she faced senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin Gatchalian during a hearing.
Guo, who could potentially face charges of perjury, apologized for her confusing testimony during the Senate hearing.
Guo, who will turn 38 on July 12, doesn’t seem to have core memories of her younger years. Raised under wraps by her father, Guo said he hid her true identity and kept her secluded on their hog-raising farm until she was 12 or 14 years old. It was during those years, Guo said, that she discovered the truth about her mother.
Teary-eyed, Guo admitted it was too embarrassing for her to reveal that her mother used to work as a house help. She said she considered this as a private matter.
She claimed she was homeschooled through daily informal tutorials, initially by a teacher named Rubilyn. Later, she told Davila that she was also taught by all of their farm workers.
Guo told Davila she has siblings but denied knowing them personally.
“Meron po. Pero hindi ko sila kilala (I have. But I don’t know them),” she said.
More than a week ago, she initially told senators that she didn’t have siblings, but eventually admitted having paternal half-siblings. Later on, she said she has a half-brother named Guo Jiang Long.
“Your honor, ako lang mag-isa sa nanay ko po. Sa ama na half siblings, meron po. Chinese po sila. Guo Jiang Long. Your honor, yan lang po. Ang alam ko, your honor, isa lang siya. Lalaki po your honor. May sariling family na po your honor. Sa ngayon po wala po. Ang alam ko po nasa China po,” Guo told Hontiveros.
(Your honor, I am my mother’s only child. As for my father, I have half-siblings. They are Chinese. Guo Jiang Long. Your honor, that’s all I know. As far as I know, there is only one. It’s a man, your honor. He already has his own family, your honor. As far as I know, he is in China.)
Before joining politics in 2022, Guo said she divested her shares from Baofu Land Corporation, the owner of the compound that housed the two raided Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs): Hongsheng Gaming Technology Incorporated and Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated.
The Baofu compound stands across some 7.9 hectares in the town, according to records obtained by Rappler.
The Sangguniang Bayan, through Special Ordinance No. 59-2019, approved the reclassification of the property from agricultural to industrial, commercial, and residential as requested by Guo, then an ordinary citizen.
In her interview with Davila, Guo said she bought some 7.4 hectares of the property at P700 per square meter or some P52 million on an installment basis in 2018.
Records obtained by Rappler, however, show that Guo bought the 7.92 hectares, comprising eight parcels of land for P11.8 million or about P150 per square meter in 2019.
During the Senate hearing, Guo maintained that she was not involved in any of the POGOs despite a town council resolution, including a letter of no objection (LONO), in favor of the application for a business license made by Guo on behalf of Hongsheng.
Guo said it was former Bamban mayor Jun Feliciano who helped her get a LONO for Hongsheng. The former mayor, she said, also helped her during her campaign for the town’s mayorship along with her hog-raiser friends. –Rappler.com
