Guo siblings left PH by boat, Shiela tells senators

FLEEING THE COUNTRY BY BOAT. Shiela Leal Guo, sister of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, recounts to senators how she and her siblings fled the country during an inquiry at the Senate on Tuesday (Aug. 27, 2024). Shiela said they boarded several sea vessels on their way to Malaysia. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Shiela Guo confirmed to senators on Tuesday that she, her sister, dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, and brother Wesley had fled the country by sea.

“Sumakay po kami ng boat sa dagat (We boarded a boat in the sea),” Shiela told senators during the Committee on Justice’s inquiry on how the Guos were able to leave the country.

“Dito lang po kasi kami galing sa bahay (sa Bamban) tapos may sundo sa amin na isang sasakyan, van. Hindi ko po alam kung saan yung lugar. Siguro bumiyahe kami ng ilang oras, kaming tatlo, si Alice, at saka si Wesley po (We were in Bamban and then someone picked us up in a vehicle, a van. I don’t know where the place was. We traveled maybe for a few hours, the three of us, Alice and Wesley),” she added.

Shiela further recalled that from a white boat, they transferred to a bigger vessel, then to a smaller boat that brought them to Sabah, Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the Guo siblings fled the country without using any public port, or they could have monitored their movement.

“Yung sinasabi niya na bumiyahe sila ng 4-6 hours via bangka para papuntang Malaysia. Ang teyorya po namin diyan ay sumakay sila ng bangka, speedboat sa bandang Bongao, Tawi-Tawi (What she said about traveling 4-6 hours via boat to go to Malaysia, our theory is that they took a boat, a speedboat to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi),” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said, noting that there is a public port in the area.

“Pero dahil walang marka ang kanyang passport ng labas niya sa Pilipinas, ang theory po namin ay gumamit talaga ng back door (But because her passport does not indicate that she exited the Philippines, our theory is that they left through the back door),” he added.

Coast Guard Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan confirmed that Zamboanga down to Tawi-Tawi are possible backdoor routes, but clarified that the majority of the seacraft that they are mandated to inspect are passenger vessels.

“The main mandate of (the) Coast Guard are maritime safety, environmental protection, and maritime security,” Punzalan said.

“We are in the process of recruiting more people, establishing more posts where we can fully enforce and implement controls in addition to our basic mandates in support to other mandates like immigration.”

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who presided over the inquiry, announced that the subcommittee would have to schedule more hearings, considering that “there are still even more questions than answers so far.”

According to Hontiveros, the panel should also resolve the conflict of information on the entrance of Alice Guo and her siblings to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 18, but her passport contains a Sabah stamp dated July 19.

“From Kuala Lumpur to Sabah, dapat din wala nang stamp kasi (it should not contain any stamp because) it’s the same country. So, how can she be also in two places in almost the same time?” she said.

Hontiveros said those who facilitated Alice Guo’s escape, whom Shiela Guo denies knowing, should also be held liable.

Good intel work

Meanwhile, senators lauded the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) for alerting the Bureau of Immigration that Guo had left the country.

PNP Directorate for Operations Head Police, Brig. Gen. Nicolas Salvador, told senators that the information was first received by the PNP-IG’s Foreign Liaison Division from foreign counterparts on Aug. 14.

“We first worked with our foreign attaché counterparts just simply to verify and validate this. The fact nga po na hindi sila nakasakay (that they were not able to travel) from Singapore to the Philippines, but instead we were able to monitor them that they went to Indonesia,” Salvador said.

“So, that is where the intelligence coordination went through and since the PNP has limited authority with respect to immigration, that’s why passed the information to the Bureau of Immigration.”

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III cited the PNP-IG’s work as a good example of the proper use of intelligence funds.

“Kasi against ako sa intelligence funds. Pagdating sa budget season, pwede niyo pong ipagmayabang sa amin yan (I am against intelligence funds [but] come budget season, you can brag about that to us),” Pimentel said.

Hontiveros said it was a “good practice” to be able to immediately relay “usable information” to other agencies.

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who also came from PNP-IG, congratulated the unit by citing its mandate.

“Meron yan silang motto eh ‘por la patria.’ Ibig sabihin nun ‘para sa bayan.’ Kahit walang intelligence fund, magtatrabaho yan sila kasi established na yung kanilang foreign liaison connections with other countries (They have that motto, ‘for the country.’ Even if there is no intelligence fund, they will work because their foreign liaison connections with other countries are already established),” dela Rosa said.