Chiz: Non-Filipinos who helped Guo escape must be held accountable

TESTIMONY. Alice Guo testifies before the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on Sept. 9, 2024. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday (Sept. 10) said foreigners who helped Guo and her siblings escape should also face the consequences of the law. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Tuesday said foreigners who helped Alice Guo and her siblings escape should also face the consequences of the law.

“I do not believe Alice Guo’s assertion that no other Filipino helped her for I am of the belief that there were other personalities, possibly officials in government other than the Bureau of Immigration, who helped her,” Escudero said in a statement.

“However, non-Filipino actors who helped her escape should also be held to account, including the ones she had mentioned,” he said.

He said even if the foreigners are currently not in the country as Guo claimed, this should not stop the Philippine government “from trying to get them.”

About Guo allegedly receiving threats, Escudero said he tends to believe it, but noted that “it would depend on the extent of her revelations and if she will tell the whole truth.”

During the last public hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, Guo declined to name the facilitators of their escape and asked for an executive session to give more details.

However, the panel refused her request after citing the dismissed mayor in contempt for allegedly giving “false and evasive” testimonies.