Mayor Guo says she only learned about business partners' criminal records on social media

Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo on Wednesday said she was initially not aware of the criminal records of her foreign business partners as disclosed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, claiming she only learned about it through social media. 

Testifying during a Senate hearing, Guo said she only learned about her co-incorporators' criminal records through Hontiveros' Facebook post on Tuesday.

“Your honor, nalaman ko po kahapon doon sa Facebook post niyo po. After ko malaman, sinearch ko sila,” the embattled mayor told Hontiveros when asked if she knew that her previous co-incorporators in Baofu Compound were money launderers. 

(Your honor, I only learned about it yesterday through your Facebook post. After I learned about it, I searched for it.)

“Kahapon nakita ko sa Facebook post niyo po, na sila ay money launderer sa Singapore at nag-research ako through Google din at nakita ko ay ‘yung dalawa ay sangkot sa money laundering sa Singapore at kahapon ko lang nalaman gawa ng nakita ko sa Facebook post niyo, Madam Chairman,” she added. 

(I saw on your Facebook post yesterday that they are money launderers in Singapore, and then I researched through Google and saw that the two of them are involved in money laundering in Singapore.)

In a statement on Tuesday, Hontiveros, citing Baofu Land Development Inc.'s 2019 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents, noted that Baofu's incorporators included Guo, Rachel Joan Malonzo Carreon, a Filipino; Zhiyang Huang, a Cypriot; Zhang Ruijin, a Chinese; and Baoying Lin, a Dominican.

Guo said she was only able to talk to one of them.

Hontiveros, in her statement, mentioned news reports on Zhang Ruijin's conviction last month for being linked to the "largest money laundering case in Singapore." Citing a report by Channel News Asia, Hontiveros said the Chinese allegedly has "$41 million in assets overseas, including shareholdings in a Philippine real estate development company."

She said Baoying Lin also has criminal charges.

Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) which was raided in March over alleged illegal activities, operated inside the Baofu compound behind the Bamban Municipal Hall. —KBK, GMA Integrated News