(ABS-CBN NEWS) MANILA — Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay told senators Tuesday that he is not romantically involved with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo amid reports that the two were in a relationship and have businesses together.
• ‘Hindi ko siya boyfriend’: Why Alice Guo’s love life came up at Senate hearing
“Magkaibigan lang… Hindi ko po sya girlfriend,” said Calugay.
(We are just friends)
The mayor said that he is currently in a relationship and had been previously married.
Senators got curious about the two’s “friendship” after they found out that it was a member of Calugay’s staff, Cheryl Medina, who arranged the notarization of Guo’s counter-affidavit when she was already out of the country.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros also said there were five business registrations in Sual that she said may be linked to the two because of the business names.
Among those were Guco Aqua Farm, Licsel Fish Farm, and Donguo Fish Farm.
• Senators ask: Is Sual mayor the boyfriend of Alice Guo?
“Diba karamihan po dito pinagsama-sama nyong pangalan ni Guo Hua Ping (Aren’t these your and Guo Hua Ping’s names combined) ?” Hontiveros asked, using the name of a Chinese national whose fingerprints the National Bureau of Investigation said matched Alice Guo’s.
“Wala po akong ganyang negosyo po,” Calugay replied.
(I do not have those kinds of businesses)
(Senator Jinggoy Estrada shows pictures of possible links between dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and Sual, Pangasinan mayor Liseldo Calugay during a Senate hearing in Pasay City on September 17, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News)
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada even teased that the pair appeared to be emulating the popular love team of Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera.
“Tinalo nyo pa si DongYan ah? Mede-deny n’yo pa ba ito?” Estrada said.
(You’re rivals to DongYan, huh? Can you still deny these?)
Calugay insisted that he does not own any of the businesses mendioned.
“Trucking [lang negosyo ko],” he said.
Guo had previously said that she was not in a relationship with the mayor and that they are just friends.