Shiela Guo on Tuesday confirmed to a Senate panel that she, along with her siblings, dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and Wesley Guo, left the Philippines by riding several boats.
“Sakay po kami ng boat (We boarded a boat),” Guo told the Senate subcommittee on justice and human rights that investigates their alleged escape from the Philippines.
According to Guo, the three of them were fetched by a van from their farm in Tarlac and they travelled southbound from dinner time to midnight.
“Maybe after dinner at 7:08 and we arrived around midnight. I’m not sure if that’s right because I don’t know the time (Maybe after dinner around 7:08 pm and we arrived around midnight. I am not sure of the exact time), Guo, who has a Chinese accent, said.
However, she said she does not know the location where they rode a small white boat. According to Guo, the small boat can only cater to around 10 people.
They then transferred to a bigger boat which Guo said can accommodate many people. The second ship appears to be a fishing ship because there were nets on it, according to Guo.
“Maybe we boarded around midnight and then it was almost morning (We boarded around midnight and we were there until morning),” she said
After riding what seemed to be a fishing ship, Guo said they transferred again to a smaller boat.
“There is one more change. The small one that looks like a blue or green color (We transferred to another boat. It was smaller and has a blue or green color,” she said.
Asked if the last boat transferred them to Malaysia, Guo answered in the affirmative.
Guo appeared at the hearing as she is currently detained in the Senate.
She and Cassandra Li Ong, which was previously subpoenaed by another Senate committee, were intercepted in Indonesia last week.
Shiela Guo was among the persons ordered arrested by the Senate last July.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the committee, was the first to divulge that Alice Guo had left the country on July 18.
In her speech before the start of the hearing, the senator said that on July 18, there was a flight from Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via Batik Air 177.
“It is believed that Alice Guo and some members of her party were on that flight, but Alice’s photo was not captured in the immigration record in Malaysia,” she said.
She added that according to news reports, Alice proceeded to Singapore on July 21 and that according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Alice Guo’s likeness was captured at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
She further said that on July 28, Alice’s parents, Lin Wen Yi and Guo Jian Zhong flew in from China to Singapore.
“Katherine Cassandra Ong may have already been waiting for them in Singapore as she was there since June 11, 2024, when she flew from Manila to Singapore via Singapore Airlines flight SQ917,” she said.
Hontiveros said Wesley took the ferry from Singapore to Batam, Indonesia on August 16. Two days later, or on August 18, Alice, Shiela, and Cassandra Ong followed him to Indonesia.
“I note that all of them presented Philippine passports before Indonesian immigration. Opo napaka-kapal po. Passport ng Pilipinas pa ang ginamit. I note that this would not have been possible if Alice Guo’s Philippine passport was immediately cancelled following the fingerprint match with Guo Hua Ping who is clearly not Filipino,” the senator said.
“Strangely, on August 14th, Alice supposedly presented herself before a Notary Public, one Elmer Galicia. Philippine notarial law mandates that the notary public requires that an affiant presents herself or himself before the notary,” she added.
PAOCC has confirmed that Alice arrived in Indonesia on August 18.
Hontiveros said a Singaporean national with the initials of ZJ booked four rooms at the Harris Hotel Batam Center.
“Supposedly, ZJ is short for Zhang Jie, and he is supposedly the former President of Lucky South 99. This is the identification card presented by ZJ at the hotel,” she said.
The senator noted Shiela is, in fact, Zhang Mier, a Chinese national with an active Chinese passport that indicates a different birth date issued by the Chinese embassy in the Philippines. She said Shiela has been in the Philippines since 2001.
“There is no outbound flight recorded in the Bureau of Immigration database for Alice Guo, Wesley Guo, and Shiela Guo. The last known travel record of Alice Guo and Wesley Guo in the BI database is on May 3, 2024 from Osaka to Manila. They travelled together. Before her return to the Philippines on August 22, 2024, the last known travel record of Shiela Guo is on February 14th, 2024 to Taipei,” Hontiveros said.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier said an investigation is underway on the departure of the dismissed Bamban mayor and “heads will roll” as he noted that Guo’s escape “laid bare corruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust.”—AOL, GMA Integrated News
Related News :