MANILA – Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo is currently in Indonesia after leaving the Philippines last month, based on the information that reached the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
According to BI spokesperson Dara Sandoval, they learned from their foreign counterparts that Guo arrived in Indonesia on August 18 after making stops in Malaysia and Singapore since leaving the country on July 16.
Sandoval added that, based on BI’s centralized database, Guo has no recorded departure, leading them to conclude that she might have used other ways to leave the Philippines.
“Doon sa ating centralized database, no recorded of departure si Mayor Alice Guo, she is still inside the country,” Sandoval said in an interview with DZBB AM Radio on Tuesday morning.
“So, sa tingin natin, since hindi siya dumaan sa proper immigration processing, maaaring inabuso ‘yung informal ways para makalabas ng bansa,” she added. “Maraming misteryo ang biyaheng ito.”
Sandoval further said Guo was definitely aided by someone when she left the country as she knows the “weak points” where there is no immigration presence.
“Definitely there is a cohort,” Sandoval said. “Alam niya ‘yung weak points na puwedeng daanan niya, ‘yung mga lugar kung saan hindi sila made-detect ng local law enforcement agencies.”
She added: “Tina-track pa natin ano ‘yung mga eksaktong dinaanan niya, but ‘yan ang tinitignan nating teorya na hindi siya dumaan sa formal ports where immigration presence is located.”
However, Guo’s lawyer, Atty Steven David, stated that his client is still in the Philippines, based on their conversation on Monday night.
“Nung pumutok ‘yung balita, tinawagan ko si Alice, sabi ko, ‘Hinahanap ka na naman dito. Nasaan ka ba? Nakalabas ka na ba ng Pilipinas?’” David said in an interview with GMA-7’s Unang Hirit.
“Sabi niya, hindi. Assurance naman niya sa akin nandito naman siya,” he added.
The Office of the Ombudsman recently dismissed the controversial mayor from service for grave misconduct with forfeiture of all her retirement benefits as well as perpetual disqualification from public office.
According to the Ombudsman, Guo “remained to be the real, true, and actual President of Baofu” and stood to benefit from the continued operations of the raided POGO hub in her locality.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also filed a tax evasion complaint against Guo as she failed to pay P500,000 in taxes for her alleged sale of her shares in the Baofu Corporation.
Guo is also facing a human trafficking complaint in relation to the raided POGO hub before the Department of Justice, while a petition seeking to remove Guo from office was also filed before a Manila court./PN
