MANILA, Philippines
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Jinggoy Estrada on Monday said that the person who helped dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo escape is a “holder of five passports.”
The senator said this unidentified person carried passports supposedly issued by Saint Kitts and Nevis both located in West Indies, China, Cyprus, Dominica and Cambodia.
Guo, alias Gua Huaping, and her siblings Shiela and Wesley slipped out of the country in the middle of July. The Indonesian police arrested Shiela and the Guos’ business partner, Cassandra Ong, on Aug. 22 while Alice was apprehended on Sept. 4.
Estrada said he received information that the person identified by Alice is now in Taiwan. “Why did he/she facilitate your escape?” Estrada asked Alice during a public hearing on their escape conducted jointly by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality. Committee on Migrant Workers, and Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
Guo refused to answer citing safety reasons.
Sen. Ramon Revilla asked Alice, “Tumakas ka ba o itinakas ka (Did you escape or were you smuggled out of the country)?”
Alice said, “This person decided for myself.” She did not elaborate.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo expressed concern over the country’s weak border control system, which he said could make the Philippines a potential hub for transnational crimes.
“Our country’s borders are very complicated. Every shoreline could serve as an exit point, and this makes the Philippines a potential hub for transnational crimes,” the senator said. “We have to review our border control and transportation regulations and policies.”