Gatchalian points out loopholes in Shiela Guo’s testimony

By Wilnard Bacelonia, Philippine News Agency

FILE: INCONSISTENCIES. 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 Aug. 27, 2024. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday (Aug. 29, 2024) said Shiela’s testimonies on their escape and her knowledge of their family business are full of inconsistencies. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is not convinced with Shiela Guo’s claim of not knowing several important details of her escape with her siblings, former Bamban mayor Alice Guo and Wesley Guo, as well as her participation in their family businesses linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

During the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday, Gatchalian pointed out the “loopholes” in Shiela’s story, particularly on how they were able to flee the country.

“Doon sa kanyang pagbyahe mula pag-alis nung bahay hanggang sa pagdating nila sa Malaysia, never niya tinanong kung bakit sila umalis. Never niya tinanong kung anong dahilan kung ba’t araw yung binyahe nila. Obvious naman yung answer para sa atin na ginawa nila yun para tumakas sa kamay ng batas (On her journey, from leaving home until they arrived in Malaysia, she never asked why they left. She never asked why their trip lasted days. The obvious answer for us is that they did that to escape from the law),” he said.

Shiela earlier told senators during the first hearing of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights that she tried to ask Alice where they were going but never got an answer.

Gatchalian also cited Shiela’s claim that she did not know Cassandra Li Ong, meeting her for the first time in Malaysia.

“Lumalabas na bumibyahe sila at meron kaming mga flight details na nakita. In fact, hindi lang si Cassandra yung kasama kundi yung isang mastermind nung POGO sa Porac na si Duaren Yu na lumabas na yung pangalan sa hearing sa House (It turns out they have been traveling and we have found flight details. In fact, Cassandra was not the only one who was with her, but also the mastermind of the POGO in Porac, Duaren Yu, whose name appeared in the House of Representatives hearing),” he said.

Another inconsistency that Gatchalian saw in Shiela’s claim is not knowing anything about the businesses of her family and its links to POGOs.

“Sinabi nga niya na wala siyang kinalaman sa negosyo pero nakita namin sa mga corporate papers na siya ay corporate secretary na pumirma nang ilang beses. Pumirma din siya sa audited financial statements bilang treasurer at chief financial officer (She claimed that she had nothing to do with the business but we found in the corporate papers that she was the corporate secretary who signed several times. She also signed the audited financial statements as treasurer and chief financial officer),” he said, disclosing that Shiela had signed various corporate documents of the Guo family 93 times since 2013.

“Ibig sabihin sa documents alone, sentro siya sa aktibidad ng Guo family. Sentro siya sa negosyo, financial transactions nila (It means that based on the documents alone, she is at the center of the activities of the Guo family. She is the center of their business, financial transactions),” Gatchalian said.

Shiela told the Senate panel that she arrived in the Philippines when she was 17 to assist in the Guo family’s embroidery business, QJJ Embroidery, in Marilao, Bulacan.

She said she eventually took over the business, operating embroidery machines and inspecting the quality of finished products, but rarely visited the Guo family farm in Bamban, Tarlac.

The second hearing of the panel led by Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros is set for Monday.